Albanus Lacus
ALBANUS LACUS (mod. Lago di Albano), a lake about 12 m. S.E. of Rome. It is generally considered to have been formed by a volcanic explosion at the margin of the great crater of the Albanus Mons; it has the shape of a crater, the banks cf Which are over 400 ft. in height from the water-level, while the water is as much as 560 ft. deep in the S. portion. It is fed by subterraiiean springs. According to the legend, the emissarium (outlet) which still drains it was made in 398-397 B.C., the Delphic oracle having declared that Veri could onlybe taken when the waters of the lake reached the sea. It is over a mile in length, hewn in the rock, and about 6 ft. high and 4 ft. broad; it has vertical shafts at intervals, and a sluice chamber at its egress from the lake. In the time of Domitian the whole lake belonged to the imperial domain. (SEEALBALONGA.)
Note - this article incorporates content from Encyclopaedia Britannica, Eleventh Edition, (1910-1911)
