Castra Albana

History

The fortress of Legio II Parthica was named Albana after the area which included Lacus Albanus, Mons Albanus, aqua Albana (perhaps an aqueduct on the south side of the lake), the rivus Albanus (probably the modern marana delle Pietrare near Marino) and "Albani Longani Bovillenses", the official name of the inhabitants of the municipium of Bovillae (located on the Appian Way near the modern village of Frattocchie), The adjective Albanus was also used as a poetic synonym for Romanus.

The legio II Parthica came to be known as legio Albana and its legionaries as Albani, even though the whole legion did not remain at the Castra Albana but had other encampments in Mesopotamia.

The Appian Way was built in 312 BC to connect Rome with Capua and passed through the Alban Hills. in Campania. The ease of direct communication with Rome led to many suburban villas of Roman nobles being built in the area, including the villas of Publius Clodius Pulcher (near Ercolano in Castel Gandolfo). and perhaps of Pompey the Great (in the Villa Doria)

Nevertheless, until the time of Domitian, the stretch of the Appian Way between Bovillae and Aricia (modern Frattocchie in Marino and Ariccia) was completely free of buildings.

In the Republican period, the area of the later castra was occupied by fortifications remains of which were found at various points in central Albano Laziale.

Domitian built his palace near Castel Gandolfo on an estate containing several imperial properties, with an area of about 14 km2. The villa was probably garrisoned by a detachment of the Praetorian Guard when the Emperor was in residence. The villa was frequently used by Domitian but later fell into disuse, on account of the construction of Villa of Hadrian at Tivoli in (117-136), who also began a policy of selling surplus Imperial property, including some of the villas on the edge of "Albanum Caesarum". …

Description

Like all Roman castra, the Castra Albana followed a regular design of a large fortified rectangle with rounded corners reinforced by circular turrets (an unusual feature, but similar to the castra of Hadrian's Wall in Britain), and with four gates (praetoria, decumana, principalis sinistra and principalis dextra),. The walls are of opus quadratum, one of its latest appearances in the Ager Romanus (it was supplanted by Opus latericium). The construction material is Peperino, extracted in situ from the volcanic soil on which the castra was built. The construction was made difficult by the position of the encampment on an 11 degree slope. The perimeter of the wall circuit is 1334 metres with sides northwest 434 m, southeast 437 m, northeast 224 m, southwest 239 m. The total area is around 95,000 m2.

Unlike other fortresses, there were no external defensive ditches or earthworks, as indicated by a road which ran just outside the walls.

The most substantial remains on this side are those of the porta praetoria, the monumental main entrance to the castra (instead of the more usual Porta Principalis), 36 m wide and still 14 m tall, and a unique example of legionary fortress architecture. It overlooked the Via Appia 20 m away which passed in front of it and was a form of imperial propaganda aimed at passing travellers. Located at the midpoint of the wall, the gate was incorporated into a later building until the devastating Anglo-American aerial bombardment of 1 February 1944. The central archway measures around 3 x 5 m with a height of 14 metres while the two side archways were a little over 1 x 5 m. The two side chambers each measure 5.4 x 5 m. …