these ruins, great part of the walls and one of the gates of the Praetorian camp may be observed in the town of Albano: it was as usual of quadrilateral form, and the walls which surround it are built of massive blocks of peperino, some of them not less than 12 feet in length, and presenting much resemblance to the more ancient fortifications of numerous Italian cities, from which they differ, however, in their comparatively small thickness. Among the most interesting remains of antiquity still visible at Albano may be noticed three remarkable sepulchral monuments. One of these, about half a mile from Albano on the road to Rome, exceeding 30 feet in elevation, is commonly, but erroneously, deemed the sepulchre of Clodius: another, on the same road close to the gate of Albano, has a far better claim to be regarded as that of Pompey, who was really buried, as we learn from Plutarch, in the immediate neighbourhood of his Alban villa. (Plut. Pomp. 80.) The third, situated near the opposite gate of the town on the road to Aricia, and vulgarly known as the Sepulchre of the Horatii and Curiatii, has been supposed by some modern antiquarians to be the tomb of Aruns, son of Porsena, who was killed in battle near Aricia. It is, however, probable that it is of much later date, and was constructed in imitation of the Etruscan style towards the close of the Roman republic. (Nibby, l. c. p. 93; Canina in Ann. dell' Inst. Arch. vol. ix. p. 57.) For full details concerning the Roman remains at Albano, see Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, p. 88-97; Ricey, Storia di Alba Longa, 4to. Rome, 1787; Piranesi, Antichità di Albano, Roma, 1762. [E. H. B.] ALBA'NUS. [ALBANIA.] ALBA'NUS LACUS, now called the Lago di Albano, is a remarkable lake of Latium, situated immediately beneath the mountain of the same name (now Monte Cavo), about 14 miles S. E. of Rome. It is of an oval form, about six miles in circumference, and has no natural outlet, being surrounded on all sides by steep or precipitous banks of volcanic tufo, which rise in many parts to a height of three or four hundred feet above the level of the lake. It undoubtedly formed, at a very early period, the crater of a volcano, but this must have ceased to exist long before the historical era. Though situated apparently at the foot of the Mons Albanus, it is at a considerable elevation above the plain of Latium, the level of its waters being 918 feet above the sea: their depth is said to be very The most interesting circumstance congreat. nected with this lake is the construction of the celebrated emissary or tunnel to carry off its superfluous waters, the formation of which is narrated both by Livy and Dionysius, while the work itself remains at the present day, to confirm the accuracy of their accounts. According to the statement thus transmitted to us, this tunnel was a work of the Romans, undertaken in the year 397 B. C., and was occasioned by an extraordinary swelling of the lake, the waters of which rose far above their accustomed height, so as even to overflow their lofty banks. The legend, which connected this prodigy and the work itself with the siege of Veii, may be safely dismissed as unhistorical, but there seems no reason for rejecting the date thus assigned to it. (Liv. v. 15-19; Dion. Hal. xii. 11-16, Fr. Mai; Cic. de Divin, i. 44.) This remarkable work, which, at the present day, after the lapse of more than 2000 years, continues to serve the purpose for which ALBANUS MONS. it was originally designed, is carried under the ridge ALBA'NUS MONS (To 'Aλbavov opos, Strab.; Monte Cavo) was the name given to the highest and central summit of a remarkable group of mountains in Latium, which forms one of the most important physical features of that country. The name of Alban Hills, or Monti Albani, is commonly applied in modern usage to the whole of this group, which rises from the surrounding plain in an isolated But mass, nearly 40 miles in circumference, and is wholly detached from the mountains that rise above Praeneste on the east, as well as from the Volscian mountains or Monti Lepini on the south. this more extended use of the name appears to have been unknown to the ancients, who speak only of the Mons Albanus in the singular, as designating|rius Maso, who was consul in B. C. 231: a more the highest peak. The whole mass is clearly of illustrious example was that of Marcellus, after the volcanic origin, and may be conceived as having capture of Syracuse, B. C. 211. Only five instances once formed a vast crater, of which the lofty ridge in all are recorded of triumphs thus celebrated. now called Monte Ariano constituted the southern (Val. Max. iii. 6. § 5; Liv. xxvi. 21, xxxiii. 23, side, while the heights of Mt. Algidus, and those xlii. 21; Fast. Capit.) occupied by Rocca Priore and Tusculum continued the circle on the E. and NE. Towards the sea the original mountain wall of this crater has given way, and has been replaced by the lakes of Albano and Nemi, themselves probably at one time separate vents of volcanic eruption. Within this outer circle rises an inner height, of a somewhat conical form, the proper Mons Albanus, which presents a repetition of the same formation, having its own smaller crater surrounded on three sides by steep mountain ridges, while the fourth (that turned towards Rome) has no such barrier, and presents to view a green mountain plain, commonly known as the Campo di Annibale, from the belief-wholly unsupported by any ancient authority-that it was at one time occupied by the Carthaginian general. The highest of the surrounding summits, which rises to more than 3000 feet above the level of the sea, is the culminating point of the whole group, and was occupied in ancient times by the temple of Jupiter Latiaris. (Cic. pro Mil. 31; Lucan. i. 198.) It is from hence that Virgil represents Juno as contemplating the contest between the Trojans and Latins (Aen. xii. 134), and the magnificent prospect which it commands over the whole of the surrounding country renders it peculiarly fit for such a station, as well as the natural site for the central sanctuary of the Latin nation. For the same reason we find it occupied as a military post on the alarm of the sudden advance of Hannibal upon Rome. (Liv. xxvi. 9.) There can be no doubt that the temple of Jupiter Latiaris had become the religious centre and place of meeting of the Latins long before the dominion of Rome: and its connection with Alba renders it almost certain that it owed its selection for this purpose to the predominance of that city. Tarquinius Superbus, who is represented by the Roman annalists as first instituting this observance (Dion. Hal. iv. 49), probably did no more than assert for Rome that presiding authority which had previously been enjoyed by Alba. The annual sacrifices on the Alban Mount at the Feriae Latinae continued to be celebrated long after the dissolution of the | Latin league, and the cessation of their national assemblies: even in the days of Cicero and Augustus the decayed Municipia of Latium still sent deputies to receive their share of the victim immolated on their common behalf, and presented with primitive simplicity their offerings of lambs, milk, and cheese. (Liv. v. 17, xxi. 63, xxxii. 1; Cic. pro Planc. 9, de Divin. i. 11; Dion. Hal. iv. 49; Suet. Claud. 4.) Another custom which was doubtless derived from a more ancient period, but retained by the Romans, was that of celebrating triumphs on the Alban Mount, a practice which was, however, resorted to by Roman generals only when they failed in obtaining the honours of a regular triumph at Rome. The first person who introduced this mode of evading the authority of the senate, was C. Papi Concerning the forms, Latiaris and Latialis, see Orell. Onomast. vol. ii. p. 336; Ernest. ad Suet. Calig. 22. The remains of the temple on the summit of the mountain were still extant till near the close of the last century, but were destroyed in 1783, when the church and convent which now occupy the site were rebuilt. Some of the massive blocks of peperino which formed the substruction may be still seen (though removed from their original site) in the walls of the convent and buildings annexed to it. The magnificence of the marbles and other architectural decorations noticed by earlier antiquarians, as discovered here, show that the temple must have been rebuilt or restored at a comparatively late period. (Piranesi, Antichità di Albano; Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, vol. i. pp. 112, 113.) But though the temple itself has disappeared, the Roman road which led up to it is still preserved, and, from the absence of all traffic, remains in a state of singular perfection. The polygonal blocks of hard basaltic lava, of which the pavement is composed, are fitted together with the nicest accuracy, while the "crepidines" or curb-stones are still preserved on each side, and altogether it presents by far the most perfect specimen of an ancient Roman road in its original state. It is only 8 feet in breadth, and is carried with much skill up the steep acclivity of the mountain. This road may be traced down to the chesnut woods below Rocca di Papa: it appears to have passed by Palazzolo, where we find a remarkable monument cut in the face of the rock, which has been conjectured to be that of Cn. Cornelius Scipio, who died in B. c. 176. (Nibby, l. c. pp. 75, 114, 115; Gell, Top. of Rome, p. 32.) Numerous prodigies are recorded by Roman writers as occurring on the Alban Mount: among these the falling of showers of stones is frequently mentioned, a circumstance which has been supposed by some writers to indicate that the volcanic energy of these mountains continued in historical times; but this suggestion is sufficiently disproved by historical, as well as geological, considerations. (Daubeny on Volcanoes, p. 169, seq. [E. H. B.] A'LBICI, a barbaric people, as Caesar calls them (B. C. i. 34), who inhabited the mountains above Massilia (Marseille). They were employed on board their vessels by the Massilienses to oppose Caesar's fleet, which was under the command of D. Brutus, and they fonght bravely in the sea-fight off Massilia, B. c. 49 (Caes. B. C. i. 57). The name of this people in Strabo is 'AX6ieîs and 'AX6toko (p. 203); for it does not seem probable that he means two peoples, and if he does mean two tribes, they are both mountain tribes, and in the same mountain tract. D'Anville infers that a place called Albiosc, which is about two leagues from Riez, in the department of Basses Alpes, retains the traces of the name of this people. [G. L.] ALBII, ALBANI MONTES (τὰ ̓Αλβια ὄρη, Strab. vii. p. 314; тò 'Aλбavòv ŏpos, Ptol. ii. 14. §1), was an eastern spur of Mount Carvancas, and the termination of the Carnic or Julian Alps on the confines of Illyricum. The Albii Montes dip down to the banks of the Saave, and connect Mount Carvancas with Mount Cetius, inclosing Aemona, and forming the southern boundary of Pannonia. [W. B. D.] are erroneous. ALBINGAUNUM. 1 ALBULA. dora, about 10 m. further S. Nearly opposite to ALBINGAUNUM. [ALBIUM INGAUNUM.] ALBI'NIA, a considerable river of Etruria, still called the Albegna, rising in the mountains at the back of Saturnia, and flowing into the sea between the Portus Telamonis and the remarkable promontory called Mons Argentarius. The name is found only in the Tabula; but the ALMINIA or ALMINA of the Maritime Itinerary (p. 500) is evidently the same [E. H. B.] river. ALBINTEMELIUM. [ALBIUM INTEMELIUM.] A'LBION. [BRITANNIA.] ALBIS (Axis or "AX6ios: die Elbe), one of the It flows from SE. to great rivers of Germany. NW., and empties itself in the Northern or German Ocean, having its sources near the Schneekoppe on the Bohemian side of the Riesengebirge. Tacitus (Germ. 41) places its sources in the country of the Hermunduri, which is too far east, perhaps because he confounded the Elbe with the Eger; Ptolemy (ii. 11) puts them too far from the Asciburgian mountains. Dion Cassius (lv. 1) more correctly represents it as rising in the Vandal mountains. Strabo (p.290) describes its course as parallel, and as of equal length with that of the Rhine, both of which notions The Albis was the most easterly and northerly river reached by the Romans in Germany. They first reached its banks in B. C.9, under Claudius Drusus, but did not cross it. (Liv. Epit. 140; Dion Cass. l. c.) Domitius Ahenobarbus, B. C. 3, was the first who crossed the river (Tacit. Ann. iv. 44), and It is situated at the mouth of the river Roja, the two years later he came to the banks of the lower Albis, meeting the fleet which had sailed up the river from the sea. (Tacit. l. c.; Vell. Pat. ii. 106; Dion RUTUBA of Pliny and Lucan, a torrent of a forCass. Iv. 28.) After that time the Romans, not think-midable character, appropriately termed by the latter ing it safe to keep their legions at so great a distance, and amid such warlike nations, never again proceeded as far as the Albis, so that Tacitus, in speaking of it, [L. S.] says: flumen inclutum et notum olim; nunc tantum auditur. A'LBIUM INGAUNUM or ALBINGAUNUM CAλGiyyavvov, Strab., Ptol.: Albenga), a city on the coast of Liguria, about 50 miles SW. of Genua, and the capital of the tribe of the Ingauni. There can be no doubt that the full form of the name, Albium Ingaunum (given by Pliny, iii. 5. s. 7, and the correct, or at Varro, de R. R. iii. 9. § 17), least the original one: but it seems to have been early abbreviated into Albingaunum, which is found in Strabo, Ptolemy, and the Itineraries, and is retained, with little alteration, in the modern name of Albenga. Strabo places it at 370 stadia from much beyond the Vada Sabbata (Vado), which truth: the Itin. Ant. gives the same distance at 20 M. P., which is rather less than the real amount. (Strab. p. 202; Ptol. iii. 1. § 3; Itin. Ant. p. 295; Itin. Marit. p. 502; Tab. Peut.) It appears to have been a municipal town of some importance under the Roman empire, and was occupied by the troops of Otho during the civil war between them and the Vitellians. (Tac. Hist. ii. 15.) At a later period it is mentioned as the birthplace of the emperor Proculus. (Vopisc. Procul. 12.) The modern city of Albenga contains only about 4000 inhabitants, but is an episcopal see, and the capital of a district. Some inscriptions and other Roman remains have been found here: and a bridge, called the Ponte Lungo, is considered to be of Roman construction. The city is situated at the mouth of the river Ceuta, which has been erroneously supposed to be the MERULA of Pliny: that river, which still retains its ancient name, flows into the sea at An author "cavus," from the deep bed between precipi- 2. A small river of Picenum, mentioned only by Pliny (iii. 13. s. 18), who appears to place it N. of the Truentus, but there is great difficulty in assigning its position with any certainty, and the text of Pliny is very corrupt: the old editions give ALBULATES for the name of the river. [PICENUM.] 3. A small river or stream of sulphureous water near Tibur, flowing into the Anio. It rises in a pool or small lake about a mile on the left of the modern road from Rome to Tivoli, but which was situated on the actual line of the ancient Via Tiburtina, at a distance of 16 M. P. from Rome. (Tab. Peut.; Vitruv. viii. 3. § 2.) The name of Albula is applied to this stream by Vitruvius, Martial (i. 13. 2), and Statius (Silv. i. 3.75), but more commonly we find the source itself designated by the name of Albulae Aquae (rà Aλbouλa üdara, Strab. p. 208). The waters both of the lake and stream are strongly impregnated with sulphur, and were in great request among the Romans for their medicinal properties, so that they were frequently carried to Rome for the use of baths: while extensive Thermae were erected near the lake itself, the ruins of which are still visible. Their construction is commonly ALCYO'NIA ('Aλkvovía), a lake in Argolis, near the Lernaean grove, through which Dionysus was said to have descended to the lower world, in order to bring back Semele from Hades. Pausanias says that its depth was unfathomable, and that Nero had let down several stadia of rope, loaded with lead, without finding a bottom. As Pausanias does not mention a lake Lerna, but only a district of this name, it is probable that the lake called Alcyonia by Pausanias is the same as the Lerna of other writers. (Paus. ii. 37. § 5, seq.; Leake, Morea, vol. ii. p. 473.) ascribed, but without authority, to Agrippa. The | 1. A town of the Deuriopes on the Erigon, in Paeowaters were not hot, like most sulphureous sources, nia in Macedonia. (Strab. p. 327.) but cold, or at least cool, their actual temperature 2. [ALALCOMENAE, No. 2.] being about 80° of Fahrenheit; but so strong is the sulphureous vapour that exhales from their surface as to give them the appearance alluded to by Martial, of "smoking." (Canaque sulphureis Albula fumat aquis, l. c.) The name was doubtless derived from the whiteness of the water: the lake is now commonly known as the Solfatara. (Plin. xxxi. 2. s. 6; Strab. 1. c.; Paus. iv. 35. § 10; Suet. Aug. 82, Ner. 31; Vitruv. l. c.) No allusion is found in ancient authors to the property possessed by these waters of incrusting all the vegetation on their banks with carbonate of lime, a process which goes on with such rapidity that great part of the lake itself is crusted over, and portions of the deposit thus formed, breaking off from time to time, give rise to little floating islands, analogous to those described by ancient writers in the Cutilian Lake. For the same reason the present channel of the stream has required to be artificially excavated, through the mass of travertine which it had itself deposited. (Nibby, Dintorni di Roma, vol. i. pp. 4-6; Gell, Top. of Rome, pp. 40, 41.) : It has been generally supposed that the Albunea of Horace and Virgil was identical with the Albula, but there appear no sufficient grounds for this as sumption and it seems almost certain that the "domus Albuneae resonantis" of the former (Carm. i. 7. 12) was the temple of the Sibyl at Tibur itself, in the immediate neighbourhood of the cascade [TIBUR], while there are strong reasons for transferring the grove and oracle of Faunus, and the fountain of Albunea connected with them (Virg. Aen. vii. 82), to the neighbourhood of Ardea. [ARDEA.] [E. H. B.] ALBUM PROMONTORIUM (Plin. v. 19. s. 17), was the western extremity of the mountain range Anti-Libanus, a few miles south of ancient Tyre (Palai-Tyrus). Between the Mediterranean Sea and the base of the headland Album ran a narrow road, in places not more than six feet in breadth, cut out of the solid rock, and ascribed, at least by tradition, to Alexander the Great. This was the communication between a small fort or castle called Alexandroschene (Scandalium) and the Mediterranean. (It. Hieros. p. 584.) The Album Promontorium is the modern Cape Blanc, and was one hour's journey to the north of Ecclippa (Dshib or Zib). [W. B. D.] ALBURNUS MONS, a mountain of Lucania, mentioned in a well-known passage of Virgil (Georg. iii. 146), from which we learn that it was in the neighbourhood of the river Silarus. The name of Monte Alburno is said by Italian topographers to be still retained by the lofty mountain group which rises to the S. of that river, between its two tributaries, the Tanagro and Calore. It is more commonly called the Monte di Postiglione, from the small town of that name on its northern declivity, and according to Cluverius is still covered with forests of holm-oaks, and infested with gad-flies. (Cluver. Ital. p. 1254; Romanelli, vol. i. p. 418; Zannoni, Carta del Regno di Napoli.) We find mention, in a fragment of Lucilius, of a PORTUS ALBURNUS, which appears to have been situated at the mouth of the river Silarus, and probably derived its name from the mountain. (Lucil. Fr. p. 11, ed. Gerlach; Probus, ad Virg. G. iii. 146; Vib. Seq. p. 18, with Oberlin.) [E. H. B] ALCYO'NIUM MARE. NUS.] [CORINTHIACUS SI A'LEA ('Aλéa: Eth. 'AXéos, 'Aλeárns), a town of Arcadia, between Orchomenus and Stymphalus, contained, in the time of Pausanias, temples of the Ephesian Artemis, of Athena Alea, and of Dionysus. It appears to have been situated in the territory either of Stymphalus or Orchomenus. Pausanias (viii. 27. § 3) calls Alea a town of the Maenalians; but we ought probably to read Asea in this passage, instead of Alea. The ruins of Alea have been discovered by the French Commission in the middle of the dark valley of Skotini, about a mile to the NE. of the village of Buyati. Alea was never a town of importance; but some modern writers have, though inadvertently, placed at this town the celebrated temple of Athena Alea, which was situated at Tegea. [TEGEA.] (Paus. viii. 23. § 1; Steph. B. s. v.; Boblaye, Recherches, fc., p. 147; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 383.) ALEMANNI. [GERMANIA.] ALE'RIA or ALA'LIA ('Aλaλín, Herod.; 'Aλλaxía, Steph. B.; 'AXepía, Ptol.: 'Aλλaλiaîos, Steph. B.), one of the chief cities of Corsica, situated on the E. coast of the island, near the mouth of the river Rhotanus (Tavignano). It was originally a Greek colony, founded about B. c. 564, by the Phocaeans of Ionia. Twenty years later, when the parent city was captured by Harpagus, a large portion of its inhabitants repaired to their colony of Alalia, where they dwelt for five years, but their piratical conduct involved them in hostilities with the Tyrrhenians and Carthaginians; and in a great sea-fight with the combined fleets of these two nations they suffered such heavy loss, as induced them to abandon the island, and repair to the S. of Italy, where they ultimately established themselves at Velia in Lucania. (Herod. i. 165-167; Steph. B.; Diod. v. 13, where Káλapis is evidently a corrupt reading for 'Aλapía.) No further mention is found of the Greek colony, but the city appears again, under the Roman form of the name, Aleria, during the first Punic war, when it was captured by the Roman fleet under L. Scipio, in B. c. 259, an event which led to the submission of the whole island, and was deemed worthy to be expressly mentioned in his epitaph. (Zonar. viii. 11; Flor. ii. 2; Orell. Inser. no. 552.) It subsequently received a Roman colony under the dictator Sulla, and appears to have retained its colonial rank, and continued to be one of the chief cities of Corsica under the Roman Empire. (Plin. iii. 6. s. 12; Mela, ii. 7; Diod. v. 13; Seneca, Cons. ad Helv. 8; Ptol. iii. 2. § 5; Itin. Ant. p. 85.) Its ruins are still visible near the south bank of ALCO'MENAE('Aλкoueval; Eth.'Ãλkoμeveús). | the river Tavignano: they are now above half a [E. H. B.] ALE'SIA (Alise), a town of the Mandubii, who were neighbours of the Aedui. The name is sometimes written Alexia (Florus, iii. 10, note, ed. Duker, and elsewhere). Tradition made it a very old town, for the story was that was founded by Hercules on his return from Iberia; and the Celtae were said to venerate it as the hearth (éσría) and mother city of all Celtica (Diod. iv. 19). Strabo (p. 191) describes Alesia as situated on a lofty hill, and surrounded by mountains and by two streams. This description may be taken from that of Caesar (B. G. vii. 69), who adds that in front of the town there was a plain about three Roman miles long. The site corresponds to that of Mont Auxois, close to which is a place now called Ste Reine d Alise. The two streams are the Lozerain and the Loze, both tributaries of the Yonne. In B. C. 52 the Galli made a last effort to throw off the Roman yoke, and after they had sustained several defeats, a large force under Vercingetorix shut themselves up in Alesia. After a vigorous resistance, the place was surrendered to Caesar, and Vercingetorix was made a prisoner (B. G. vii. 68—90). Caesar does not speak of the destruction of the place, but Florus says that it was burnt, a circumstance which is not | inconsistent with its being afterwards restored. Pliny (xxxiv. 17. s. 48) speaks of Alesia as noted for silver-plating articles of harness for horses and beasts of burden. Traces of several Roman roads tend towards this town, which appears to have been finally ruined about the ninth century of our aera. [G. L.] ALE'SIAE ('Aλería), a village in Laconia, on the road from Therapne to Mt. Taygetus, is placed by Leake nearly in a line between the southern extremity of Sparta and the site of Bryseae. (Paus. iii. 20. § 2; Leake, Peloponnesiaca, p. 164.) mile from the coast, though it was in the Roman | 332. It stood in lat. 31° N.; long. 47° E. (Arrian, times a seaport. iii. 1, p. 156; Q. Curt. iv. 8. § 2.) On his voyage from Memphis to Canobus he was struck by the natural advantages of the little town of Rhacôtis, on the north-eastern angle of the Lake Mareotis. The harbour of Rhacôtis, with the adjacent island of Pharos, had been from very remote ages (Hom. Od. iv. 355) the resort of Greek and Phoenician sea-rovers, and in the former place the Pharaohs kept a permanent garrison, to prevent foreigners entering their dominions by any other approach than the city of Naucratis and the Canobic branch of the Nile. At Rhacôtis Alexander determined to construct the future capital of his western conquests. His architect Deinocrates was instructed to survey the harbour, and to draw out a plan of a military and commercial metropolis of the first rank. (Vitruv. ii. prooem.; Solin. c. 32; Amm. Marc. xxii. 40; Val. Max.i. 4. §1.) The ground-plan was traced by Alexander himself; the building was commenced immediately, but the city was not completed until the reign of the second monarch of the Lagid line, Ptolemy Philadelphus. It continued to receive embellishment and extension from nearly every monarch of that dynasty. The plan of Deinocrates was carried out by another architect, named Cleomenes, of Naucratis. (Justin. xiii. 4. §1.) Ancient writers (Strab. p. 791, seq.; Plut. Alex. 26; Plin. v. 10. s. 11) compare the general form of Alexandreia to the cloak (chlamys) worn by the Macedonian cavalry. It was of an oblong figure, rounded at the SE. and SW. extremities. Its length from E. to W. was nearly 4 miles; its breadth from S. to N. nearly a mile, and its circumference, according to Pliny (l. c.) was about 15 miles. The interior was laid out in parallelograms: the streets crossed one another at right angles, and were all wide enough to admit of both wheel carriages and foot-passengers. Two grand thoroughfares nearly bisected the city. They ran in straight lines to its four principal gates, and each was a plethrum, or about 200 feet wide. The longest, 40 stadia in length, ran from the Canobic gate to that of the Necropolis (E.-W.): the shorter, 7-8 stadia in length, extended from the Gate of the Sun to the Gate of the Moon (S.-N.). On its northern side Alexandreia was bounded by the sea, sometimes denominated the Egyptian Sea: on the south by the Lake of Marea or Mareotis; to the west were the Necropolis and its numerous gardens; to the east the Eleusinian road and the Great Hippodrome. The tongue of land upon which Alexandreia stood was singularly adapted to a commercial city. The island of Pharos broke the force of the north wind, and of the occasional high floods of the Mediterranean. The headland of Lochias sheltered its harbours to the east; the Lake Mareotis was both a wet-dock and the general haven of the inland navigation of the Nile- valley, whether direct from Syene, or by the royal canal from Arsinoë on the Red Sea, while various other canals connected the lake with the Deltaic branches of the river. The springs of Rhacôtis were few and brackish; but an aqueduct conveyed the Nile water into the southern section of the city, and tanks, many of which are still in use, distributed fresh water to both public and private edifices. (Hirtius, B. Alex. c. 5.) The soil, partly sandy and partly calcareous, rendered drainage nearly superfluous. The fogs which periodically linger on the shores of Cyrene and Egypt were dispersed by the north winds which, in the summer season, ventilate the Delta; while the salubrious ALESIAEUM ('Aλeriaîov), called ALEI'SIUM ('Aλelotov) by Homer, a town of Pisatis, situated the road leading across the mountains from Elis to Olympia. Its site is uncertain. (Strab. p. 341; Hom. I. ii. 617; Steph. B. s. v. 'Aλhσwv.) upon ALESIUS MONS. [MANTINEIA.] ALE'TIUM ('Aλriov Ptol. iii. 1. § 76; Eth. Aletinus, Plin. iii. 11. s. 16), a town of Calabria, mentioned, both by Pliny and Ptolemy, among the inland cities which they assign to the Salentini. Its site (erroneously placed by Cluver at Lecce) is clearly marked by the ancient church of Sta Maria della Lizza (formerly an episcopal see) near the village of Fisciotti, about 5 miles from Gallipoli, on he road to Otranto. Here many ancient remains have been discovered, among which are numerous tombs, with inscriptions in the Messapian dialect. (D'Anville, Anal. Géogr. de l'Italie, p. 233; Mommsen, Unter-Ital. Dialekte, p. 57.) The name is corruptly written Baletium in the Tab. Peut., which however correctly places it between Neretum (Nardo) and Uxentum (Ugento), though the distances given are inaccurate. In Strabo, also, it is probable that we should read with Kramer 'Aλnría for ZaAntía, which he describes as a town in the interior of Calabria, a short distance from the sea. (Strab. p. 282; and Kramer, ad loc.) [E. H. B.] ALEXANDREIA, -IA or -EA († 'Ãλe§ávöpeia: Eth. 'Aλežavopeus, more rarely 'Aλecavopirns, Αλεξανδριώτης, Αλεξανδριανός, Αλεξανδρινος, 'Aλečavopívns, Alexandrinus; fem. 'Aλetavopis: the modern El-Skanderish), the Hellenic capital of Egypt, was founded by Alexander the Great in B. C. |