The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites
Richard Stillwell, William L. MacDonald, Marian Holland McAllister, Stillwell, Richard, MacDonald, William L., McAlister, Marian Holland, Ed.

ALGIDUS Italy.

The N and E parts of the outer crater of the Alban Hills from the borders of Tusculum to those of Velitrae. It was traditionally cold and heavily forested with oak and ilex. A number of peaks can be distinguished, but perhaps none was singled out as Algidus Mons; if one was, it is likely to have been the modern Monte Artemisio, since Diana is known to have had a sanctuary on Algidus (Hor. Carm. 1.21.6; Carm. Saec. 69). A Temple of Fortuna is also mentioned (Livy 21.62.8). The pass of Algidus (still called Cava dell'Aglio), through which the Via Latina went, was strategically important in Rome's wars with the Aequi in the 5th c. There seems never to have been a town here; under the Empire it was known for its pleasant summer houses (Stat. Silv. 4.4.16; Mart. 10.30.6).

L. RICHARDSON JR