Lucrinus Lacus or Lucrine Lake ( it, Lago di Lucrino; nap, Laco 'e Lucrine) is a lake in

Campania Campania (, also , , , ) is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islands and the i ...

, southern Italy. It is less than one kilometre to the south of

Lake Avernus __NOTOC__ Lake Avernus ( it, Lago d'Averno) is a volcanic crater lake located in the Avernus crater in the Campania region of southern Italy, around west of Pozzuoli. It is near the volcanic field known as the Phlegraean Fields (') and comprises ...

and is separated from the

Gulf of Pozzuoli The Gulf of Pozzuoli ( it, Golfo di Pozzuoli; nap, Gurfo 'e Pezzulo), formerly known as the Gulf of Puteoli, is a large bay (aquatic), bay or small gulf (geography), gulf in the northwestern end of the Gulf of Naples in the Tyrrhenian Sea. It l ...

by a narrow strip of land. Also known as the ''maricello'' ("little sea"), the size of present-day Lago Lucrino was significantly reduced by the rise of the

volcanic cone Volcanic cones are among the simplest volcanic landforms. They are built by ejecta from a volcanic vent, piling up around the vent in the shape of a cone with a central crater. Volcanic cones are of different types, depending upon the nature and ...

Monte Nuovo Monte Nuovo ("New Mountain") is a cinder cone volcano within the Campi Flegrei caldera, near Naples, southern Italy. A series of damaging earthquakes and changes in land elevation preceded its only eruption, during the most recent part of the Ho ...

in 1538. The lake's modern dimensions are long and about deep. The recorded history of Lucrinus Lacus dates back to Sergius Orata, who is credited with creating the first

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

beds there. The lake was also a resort destination for residents of Baiae (cf.

Martial Marcus Valerius Martialis (known in English as Martial ; March, between 38 and 41 AD – between 102 and 104 AD) was a Roman poet from Hispania (modern Spain) best known for his twelve books of ''Epigrams'', published in Rome between AD 86 and ...

i. 62). Its banks were covered with villas, of which the best known was

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the estab ...

's villa Cumanum on the east bank, which was the seat of his ''Academia''. The remnants of this villa, and the nearby village of Tripergole, disappeared beneath ejecta from the eruption of

in 1538. According to a history by

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historiography, Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his t ...

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from 49 to 54 AD, the fourth wife and niece of Emperor Claudius. Agrippina was one of the most prominent women in the Julio-Claud ...

was murdered by the emperor

Nero Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus ( ; born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus; 15 December AD 37 – 9 June AD 68), was the fifth Roman emperor and final emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, reigning from AD 54 un ...

's assassins in her villa on the shores of Lucrinus Lacus in AD 59 after escaping a unsuccessful murder attempt while sailing on another craft nearby. The Via Herculanea and a railway traverse the strip of land between the lake and the

. The road runs on an embankment, which

Strabo Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-sighted that he could see ...

credited to

Heracles Heracles ( ; grc-gre, Ἡρακλῆς, , glory/fame of Hera), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of Zeus and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive ...

with constructing. This strip was reinforced with a sea wall and then opened by

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (; BC – 12 BC) was a Roman general, statesman, and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law, and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. He was responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildi ...

to make a harbour of Lucrinus Lacus. He then joined Lucrinis Lacus to Lago d'Averno by a canal, as recorded in

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; traditional dates 15 October 7021 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Roman poet of the Augustan period. He composed three of the most famous poems in Latin literature: t ...

's ''

Georgics The ''Georgics'' ( ; ) is a poem by Latin poet Virgil, likely published in 29 BCE. As the name suggests (from the Greek word , ''geōrgika'', i.e. "agricultural (things)") the subject of the poem is agriculture; but far from being an example ...

'', providing a sheltered harbour known as

Portus Julius (alternatively spelled in the Latin ) was the first harbour specifically constructed to be a base for the Roman western naval fleet, the ; the eastern fleet was based in the Port of Ravenna. The port was located at Misenum on a peninsula at th ...

for the Roman western fleet, invisible from the sea. Today Lucrino is a ''

frazione A ''frazione'' (plural: ) is a type of subdivision of a ''comune'' (municipality) in Italy, often a small village or hamlet outside the main town. Most ''frazioni'' were created during the Fascist era (1922–1943) as a way to consolidate territ ...

'' of the ''

comune The (; plural: ) is a local administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions ('' regioni'') and provinces (''province''). The can also ...

'' of

Pozzuoli Pozzuoli (; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' of the Metropolitan City of Naples, in the Italian region of Campania. It is the main city of the Phlegrean Peninsula. History Pozzuoli began as the Greek colony of ''Dicaearchia'' ( el, Δικα ...

Notes

References

* Endnote: **

Karl Julius Beloch Karl Julius Beloch (21 January 1854 in Nieder-Petschkendorf – 1 February 1929 in Rome) was a German classical and economic historian. Biography From 1872 to 1875, he studied classical philology and ancient history in Freiburg, Heidelbe ...

, ''Campanien'', ed. 2 (Breslau, 1890), 172. {{Archaeological sites in Campania Campanian volcanic arc Roman sites of Campania Lakes of Campania Pozzuoli Archaeological sites in Campania Phlegraean Fields