ALBA LONGA

ancient city of Latium, Italy, in the Alban Hills about 12 miles (19 km) southeast of Rome, near present Castel Gandolfo. Tradition attributes its founding (c. 1152 BC) to Ascanius, the son of the legendary Aeneas, thus making it, according to legend at least, the oldest Latin city, which in turn founded others, including Rome. Alba Longa headed a Latin league of uncertain extent until destroyed about 600 BC by Rome. The name Albanum, from about 150 BC until the time of the emperor Constantine I the Great, meant the imperial villa in the Alban territory. The emperors 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 it. The imperial villa occupied the site of the present Villa Barberini at Castel Gandolfo, and considerable remains still exist.