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 formed a single estate out of a considerable part of this district, including apparently the whole of the lake, and Domitian was especially fond of residing here. The imperial villa occupied the site of the present Villa Barberini at Castel Gandolfo, and considerable remains of it still exist. To the south was a camp for the imperial bodyguard, with baths, an amphitheatre, a large water reservoir, &c. The first legion known to have been quartered there is the ''II. Parthica'', founded by Septimius Severus; but it was probably constructed earlier. In some of the tombs of these legionaries coins of Maxentius have been found, while the Liber Pontificalis records that Constantine gave to the church of Albano “omnia scheneca deserta vel domos intra urbem Albanensem,” which has generally been taken to refer to the abandoned camp. It was at this period, then, that the civitas Albanensis arose. The lapis Albanus is a green grey volcanic stone with black and white grains in it (hence the modern name, peperino), much used for building material.

ALBAN, SAINT, usually styled the protomartyr of Britain, is said to have been born at Verulamium (the modern St Albans in Hertfordshire) towards the close of the 3rd century, and to have served for seven years in Rome in the army of the emperor Diocletian. On his return to Britain he settled at his native place and was put to death as a Christian during the persecution of Diocletian (c. 286–303). According to tradition, when peace was restored, great honours were paid to his tomb. A church was built on the spot, c. 793, by King Offa of Mercia. A monastery was subsequently added, and around it the present town of St Albans gradually grew up. Pope Adrian IV., who was born in the neighbourhood, conferred on the abbot of St Alban’s the right of precedence over his fellow abbots, a right hitherto attached to the abbey of Glastonbury. St Alban is commemorated in the Roman martyrology on the 22nd of June; but it is impossible to determine with certainty whether he ever existed, as no mention of him occurs till the middle of the 6th century.

ALBANI, or, FRANCESCO (1578–1660), Italian painter, was born at Bologna. His father was a silk merchant, and intended to bring up his son to the same occupation; but Albani was already, at the age of twelve, filled with so strong an inclination for painting, that on the death of his father he devoted himself entirely to art. His first master was Denis Calvert, with whom Guido Reni was at the same time a pupil. He was soon left by Calvert entirely to the care of Guido, and contracted with him a close friendship. He followed Guido to the school of the Caracci; but after this, owing to mutual rivalry, their friendship began gradually to cool. They kept up for a long time a keen competition, and their mutual emulation called forth some of their best productions. Notwithstanding this rivalry, they still spoke of each other with the highest esteem. Albani after having greatly improved himself in the school of the Caracci, went to Rome, where he opened an academy and resided for many years. Here he painted, after the designs of Annibal Caracci, the whole of the frescoes in the chapel of San Diego in the church of San Giacomo degli Spagnuoli. His best frescoes are those on mythological subjects, of which there is a large number in the Verospi, now Torlonia Palace. On the death of his wife he returned to Bologna, where he married a second time and resided till his death. His wife and children were very beautiful and served him for models. The learning displayed in the composition of his pictures, and their minute elaboration and exquisite finish, gave them great celebrity and entitle them to a distinctive place among the products of the Bolognese school. A number of his works are at Bologna, and others at Florence, the Louvre, Dresden and St Petersburg. Among the best of his sacred subjects are a “St Sebastian” and an “Assumption of the Virgin,” both in the church of St Sebastian at Rome. He was among the first of the Italian painters to devote himself to the painting of cabinet pictures. A rare etching, the “Death of Dido,” is attributed to him.

ALBANI, the stage name of (1847–&emsp;&emsp;), Canadian singer, who was born at Chambly, in the province of Quebec, on the 27th of September 1847. She made her first public appearance in Montreal, at the age of seven, and afterwards studied in the United States, Paris and Italy. In 1870 she made her first appearance at Messina, and after two successful seasons appeared in London in 1872 with the Royal Italian Opera. Later she abandoned Opera for Oratorio, and sang at all the principal festivals. She has made several tours of Canada and of the United States, and in 1886 sang at the opening of the Colonial and Indian Exhibition in London the ode written by Tennyson for the occasion. She frequently sang before Queen Victoria, the German emperor and others of the crowned heads of Europe, and received numerous marks of their esteem. In 1897 she was awarded the gold Beethoven medal by the London Philharmonic Society, “as a mark of appreciation of her exceptional genius and musical attainments, and of her generous and artistic nature.” She married in 1878 Ernest Gye, the theatrical manager. Her stage name of Madame Albani was taken from that of an extinct Italian family.

ALBANIA, the ancient name of a district in the eastern Caucasus, consisting, according to Strabo (xi. 4. 1-8), of the valley of the Cyrus (Kur) and the land lying between it and the Caucasus range from Iberia to the Caspian Sea, i. e. the modern Shirvan. In reality the Albani inhabited also the mountain valleys and the land to the north towards Sarmatia, the modern Daghestan (Pliny vi. 39). Dionysius of Halicarnassus quotes a tradition that the name arose from the alleged fact that the people were the descendants of emigrants from Alba in Italy, but it would seem that the race was of Lesghian (not Georgian) descent. Strabo describes them as tall, well made, and in character simple and honest; he says that payment was in kind and that the people could not count beyond a hundred. They worshipped the sun, and more particularly the moon, the latter being perhaps identical with the great Nature Goddess of Asia Minor (see ), and believed in soothsaying and the virtue of human sacrifice. Old age was held in high honour, but it was sacrilege to speak, or even to think, of the dead. The race was nomadic, and lived on the abundant natural fruits of the land. In Strabo’s time they appear to have been ruled by a single king, though previously there were twenty-six, each one ruling over a community distinct only in point of language. The Albani became known to the Romans during Pompey’s pursuit of Mithradates the Great (65 ), against which they are said to have opposed a force of 60,000 foot and 20,000 cavalry. Pompey exacted from them a nominal submission, but their independence was not seriously affected by the Romans. In the reign of Hadrian their territory was invaded by the Alani (Th. Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, Eng. trans., 1886), and later they fell under the Sassanid rule. They were driven finally into Armenia by the Khazars, and ceased to exist as a separate people. The district subsequently suffered under the successive invasions of Huns, Varangians (who captured the chief town Barda in the 10th century) and Mongols. (See, History; .)

ALBANIA, a portion of the Turkish empire extending along the western littoral of the Balkan Peninsula from the southern frontier of Montenegro to the northern confines of Greece. Albania is perhaps the least-known region in Europe; and though more than a hundred years have passed since Gibbon described it as “a country within sight of Italy, which is less known than the interior of America,” but little progress has yet been made towards a scientific knowledge of this interesting land and its inhabitants. The wild and inaccessible character of the country, the fierce and lawless disposition of the people, the difficulties presented by their language and their complex social institutions, and the inability of the Turkish authorities to afford a safe conduct in the remoter districts, combine to render Albania almost unknown to the foreign traveller, and many of its geographical problems still remain unsolved. A portion of the Mirdite region, the Mat district, the neighbourhood of Dibra, Jakova and Ipek and other localities have never been