Roman Castles

The Algidus Mons, known in English as Mount Algidus, is the eastern rim of the dormant Alban Volcano in the Alban Hills, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) southeast of Rome, Italy. The ridge is traversed by a narrow crevasse called la Cava d'Aglio. It was the site of the ancient Roman Battle of Mount Algidus. The Via Latina, a road that was strategically advantageous in the military history of Rome, leads to Mount Algidus mountain pass. Dionysius of Halicarnassus claimed that a town was founded on the mountain (Dionysius of Halicarnassus, x. 21, xi. 3), but this has not been verified by modern scholarship. Although an extensive fortification lines the Maschio d'Ariano (the hill to the south of the Via Latina), this particular structure was entirely medieval, and therefore did not exist during the time period described by Dionysius. However, some historical topographers have mistakenly included it on maps meant to illustrate Italy during the Western Roman Empire.

The Temple of Diana Nemorensis was an ancient Roman sanctuary erected around 300 BC and dedicated to the goddess Diana. The temple was situated on the northern shore of Lake Nemi, beneath the cliffs of the modern city of Nemi (Latin nemus Aricinum). It was a pilgrimage site on the Italian peninsula. The temple complex covered an area of 45,000 square meters.Historical evidence suggests that worship of Diana at Nemi flourished from at least the 6th century BCE The temple was abandoned at some point in the late Roman Empire period. If still in use by the 4th-century, it would have been closed during the persecution of pagans in the late Roman Empire. Portions of its marbles and decorations were removed. The area of the temple was gradually covered by forest and generally left undisturbed for centuries. Amateur archaeological excavations of the site began in the 1600s.

The Alban Hills (Italian: Colli Albani) are the caldera remains of a quiescent volcanic complex in Italy, located 20 km (12 mi) southeast of Rome and about 24 km (15 mi) north of Anzio. The 950 m (3,120 ft) high Monte Cavo forms a highly visible peak the centre of the caldera, but the highest point is Maschio delle Faete approximately 2 km (1.2 mi) to the east of Cavo and 6 m (20 ft) taller. There are subsidiary calderas along the rim of the Alban Hills that contain the lakes Albano and Nemi. The hills are composed of peperino (lapis albanus), a variety of tuff that is useful for construction and provides a mineral-rich substrate for nearby vineyards.

Nemi is a town and comune in the Metropolitan City of Rome (central Italy), in the Alban Hills overlooking Lake Nemi, a volcanic crater lake. It is 6 kilometres (4 mi) northwest of Velletri and about 30 kilometres (19 mi) southeast of Rome. The town's name derives from the Latin nemus, or "holy wood". In antiquity the area had no town, but the grove was the site of one of the most famous of Roman cults and temples: the Temple of Diana Nemorensis. In 1514 Marcantonio I Colonna gave to Nemi the "Statuti e Capituli del Castello di Nemi".

The Nemi ships were two ships, of different sizes, built under the reign of the Roman emperor Caligula in the 1st century AD on Lake Nemi. Although the purpose of the ships is speculated upon, the larger ship was an elaborate floating palace, which contained quantities of marble, mosaic floors, heating and plumbing, and amenities such as baths. Both ships featured technology thought to have been developed historically later. It has been stated that the emperor was influenced by the lavish lifestyles of the Hellenistic rulers of Syracuse and Ptolemaic Egypt. Recovered from the lake bed in 1929, the ships were destroyed by fire in 1944 during World War II.

The church of Santa Maria ad Nives of Palazzolo (also called of Palazzola) is a Catholic place of worship located in the municipality of Rocca di Papa, in the province of Rome, in the suburbicarian diocese of Frascati. Next to the church stands the former convent of the Friars Minor Observant. The convent, which already existed in the 11th century, stands in a picturesque place overlooking Lake Albano: amidst alternate events it reached its period of maximum splendor around the middle of the 18th century, with the architectural interventions promoted by Bishop José Maria Ribeiro da Fonseca de Évora. The convent was a protectorate of the Kingdom of Portugal from 1870 to 1910, until it was handed over to private individuals in 1915. Since 1920 it has hosted a summer stay for seminarians from the Venerable English College.

The Battle of Mount Algidus was fought in 458 BC, between the Roman Republic and the Aequi, near Mount Algidus in Latium. The Roman dictator Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus turned an expected Roman defeat into an important victory.

Lake Nemi (Italian: Lago di Nemi, Latin: Nemorensis Lacus, also called Diana's Mirror, Latin: Speculum Dianae) is a small circular volcanic lake in the Alban Hills 30 km (19 mi) south of Rome in the Lazio region of Italy. It takes its name from Nemi, the largest town in the area, that overlooks it from a height. It was formed in an ancient volcanic crater created at least 36,000 years ago.The lake is famous for its great sunken Roman ships built under Caligula.

Aqua Crabra was a Roman aqueduct supplying villas in the hinterland of the ancient town of Tusculum. The Aqua Crabra is described by Cicero in his treatise De Lege Agraria ("On the Agrarian Law") where we learn it supplied his villa near Tusculum.The aqueduct is also attested in the text of Frontinus. The Crabra is sometimes referred to as Aqua Mariana or Aqua Maranna del Maria.The evidence offered by CIL VI, 1261 was interpreted by Mommsen to be connected with the Aqua Crabra, even though there is no specific mention of it in the fragmentary text.Archaeological discoveries announced in December 2014 in conjunction with Rome's Metro C excavations have been preliminarily linked with the Aqua Crabra. This discovery consists of a large hydraulic reservoir, perhaps the largest known from the ancient city, along with a water wheel and agricultural implements.

Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome (notably the villas of Cicero and Lucullus).