Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography Volume II.djvu/228

 212 LUCRINUS LACUS. bourhood of his Sabine farni ; and this is admitted by all the old commentators, who with one accord call it " Mons in Sabinis," but without giving any further clue to its position. The identification of this must therefore depend upon that of Horace's Sabine villa ; but this being clearly established near Licema [Digentia], we cannot refuse to recognise Lucretilis in Monte Gennaro, a lofty mountain mass which rises nearly due V. of Licema, standing out prominently towards the plain of the Cimipagna, so that it is one of the most conspicuous of the Apennines as seen from Rome. On the side towards the plain it rises very steeply and abruptly, but on the reverse or Sabine side it has a much more gentle slope, and fully deserves Horace's epithet of " amoenus," — being furrowed by deep valleys, tlie sides of which are clothed with woods, while nearer the summit are extensive pastures, much resorted to by cattle in summer. (Gell, Top. of Rome, pp. 270 —273 ; Kihhj, Dintorni, vol. ii. pp. 105—107.) The highest point is 4285 English feet above the sea. Whether the name of Mons Lucretilis was applied to the highest part of the mountain, now called Monte Gennaro, which is so conspicuous from Eorae, or was a more local appellation for the peaks nearer the valley of the Digentia, cannot now be determined ; but there is little doubt that the two names belong at least to the same mass or group of mountains. [E. H. B.] LUCRrNUS LACUS (6 AoKpivos koAttos, Strab: Logo Lucrino), a salt-water lake or lagoon, adjoin- ing the gulf of Baiae on the coast of Campania. It ■was situated just at the bight or inmost point of the deep bay between Puteoli and Baiae, and was sepa- rated from the outer sea only by a narrow strip or bank of sand, in all probability of natural origin, but the construction of which was ascribed by a tradition or legend, frequently alluded to by the Roman poets, to Hercules, and the road along it is said to have been commonly called in consequence, the Via Herculea or Heraclea. According to Strabo it was 8 stadia in length, and wide enough to admit of a road for wag- gons. (Diod. iv. 22 ; Strab. v. p. 245 ; Lycophr. Alex. 697 ; Propert. iv. 18. 4 ; Sil. Ital. xii. 116 — 120.) On the other side, the Lucrine lake was separated only by a narrow space from the lake Avemus, which was, however, of a wholly different character, being a deep basin of fresh water, formed in the crater of an extinct vol- cano; while the Lacus Lucrinus, in common with all similar lagoons, was very shallow, and was for that reason well adapted for producing oysters and other shell-fish, for the excellence of which it was celebrated. (Hor. Epod. ii. 49, Sat. ii. 4. 32; Juven. iv. 141; Petron. Sat. p. 424; Slartial, vi. 11. 5, xiii. 90; Varr. a;;. Non. p. 216.) These oyster-beds were so valuable as to be farmed out at a high price, and Caesar was induced by the con- tractors to repair the dyke of Hercules for their pro- tection. (Sei"v. ad Georg. ii. 161.) The Lucrine lake is otherwise known chiefly in connection with the great works of Agrippa for the constraction of the so-called Julius Portus, al- luded to in two well-known passages of Virgil and Horace. (Virg. Georg. .& — 163; Hor. Ars Poet. 63.) It is not easy to understand exactly the natm'e of these works ; but the object of Agrippa was obvi- ously to obtain a perfectly secure and land-locked basin, for anchoring his fleet and for exercising his newly-raised crews and rowers. For this purpose he seems to have opened an entrance to the lake LUCUS AXGITIAE. Avernus by a cut or canal from the Lucrine lake,- and must, at the same time, have opened a channel from the latter into the bay, sufficiently deep for the passage of large vessels. But, togetlier with this work, he strengthened the natural barrier of the Lu- crine lake against the sea by an artificial dyke or dam, so as to prevent the waves from breaking over it as they previously did during hea^'y gales. (Strab. V. p. 245; Dion Cass, slviii. 50; Suet. Avg. 16; Veil. Pat. ii. 79; Serv. et Philargyr. ad Virg. I. c; Plin. sxxvi, 15. s. 24.) It is clear from the ac- counts of these works that they were perfectly suc- cessful for a time, and they appear to have excited the greatest admiration ; but they were soon aban- doned, probably from the natural difficulties proving insuperable; and, from the time that the station of the Roman fleet was established at Misenum, we hear no more of the Julian Port. Even in the time of Strabo it seems to have fallen into complete dis- use, for he says distinctly, that the lake Avernus was deep and well adapted for a port, but coidd not he 7ised as such on account of the Lucrine lake, which was shallow and broad, lying between it and the sea (v. p. 244). And again, a little further on (p. 245), he speaks of the latter as useless as a harbour, and accessible only to small vessels, but producing abundance of oysters. At a later period Cassiodorus (T'ar. ix. 6) describes it in a manner which implies that a communication was still open with the lake Avernus as well as with the sea. The two lakes are now separated by a considerable breadth of low sandy ground, but it is probable that this was formed in great part by the memorable volcanic eruption of 1538, when the hill now called Monte Nuovo, 413 feet in height and above 8000 feet in circumference, was thrown up in the course of two days, and a large part of the Lucrine lake filled up at the same time. Hence the present aspect of the lake, which is reduced to a mere marshy pool full of reeds, afflirds little assistance in comprehend- ing the ancient localities. (Daubeny, On Volcaru)es, pp. 208 — 210.) It is said that some portions of the piers of the port of Agrippa, as well as part of the dyke or bank ascribed to Hercules, ai-e still visible under the level of the water. [E. H. B.] LUCUS ANGI'TL^E (Eth. Lucensis: Luco), a place on the W. shore of the lake Fucinus, in the territory of the Blarsi, originally, as its name im- ports, nothing more than a sanctuary of the goddess Angitia, but which seems to have gradually grown up into a town. This was sometimes called, as we learn from an inscription, Angitia; but the name of Lucus or Lucus Angitiae must have been the more prevalent, as we find the inhabitants styled by Pliny simply Lucenses, and the modern name of Luco or Lvgo points to the same conclusion. It is evident, both from Pliny and from the inscription referred to, that it was a municipal town, having its own local magistrates. (Plin. iii. 12. s. 17; Orell. Ini^cr. 1 1 5.) About half a mile N. of the modem village of Luco, and close to the shores of the lake,, are the remains of ancient walls constructed in the polygonal style, but which, from their position, could never have been designed as fortifications ; and these probably formed part of the sacred enclosure or Peribolus of the grove and temple. The site is now marked, as is so often the case in Italy, by an ancient church. (Nibby, Viaggio Antiq. vol. i. p. 210; Class. Mus. vol. ii. p. 175, note.) Virgil alludes in a well-known passage to the " nemus Angitiae" (^Aen. vii. 759), where the name of the