Avernus was an ancient name for a

volcanic crater A volcanic crater is an approximately circular depression in the ground caused by volcanic activity. It is typically a bowl-shaped feature containing one or more vents. During volcanic eruptions, molten magma and volcanic gases rise from an ...

near

Cumae Cumae ( or or ; ) was the first ancient Greek colony of Magna Graecia on the mainland of Italy and was founded by settlers from Euboea in the 8th century BCE. It became a rich Roman city, the remains of which lie near the modern village of ...

(Cuma),

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, in the region of

Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern 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 Islan ...

west of

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

. Part of the

Phlegraean Fields The Phlegraean Fields (, ; ) is a large volcano, volcanic caldera west of Naples, Italy. The Neapolitan Yellow Tuff eruption (about 12ka BP) produced just 50 cubic kilometers. It is, however, one of relatively few volcanoes large enough to f ...

of volcanoes, Avernus is approximately in circumference. Within the crater is

Lake Avernus __NOTOC__ Lake Avernus () 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 part of the wide ...

(').

Role in ancient Roman society

Avernus was believed to be the entrance to the

underworld The underworld, also known as the netherworld or hell, is the supernatural world of the dead in various religious traditions and myths, located below the world of the living. Chthonic is the technical adjective for things of the underworld. ...

, and is portrayed as such in the ''

Aeneid The ''Aeneid'' ( ; or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan War#Sack of Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Ancient Rome ...

'' of

Virgil Publius Vergilius Maro (; 15 October 70 BC21 September 19 BC), usually called Virgil or Vergil ( ) in English, was an ancient Rome, ancient Roman poet of the Augustan literature (ancient Rome), Augustan period. He composed three of the most fa ...

. According to tradition, all birds flying over the lake were destined to fall dead, hence the lake’s name was transferred to Greek as ‚ or 'birdless (lake)'. This was likely due to the toxic fumes that the mouths of the crater gave off into the atmosphere. In later times, the word was simply an alternative name for the underworld. On the shores of the lake is the grotto of the

Cumaean Sibyl The Cumaean Sibyl () was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony near Naples, Italy. The word ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibylla'', meaning prophetess. There were many sibyls thr ...

and the entrance to a long tunnel ( Grotta di Cocceio, c. ) leading toward Cumae, where her sanctuary was located. There are also the remains of temples to

Apollo Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...

and

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

. During the

civil war A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

between

Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in ...

and Antony, Agrippa tried to turn the lake into a military port, the

Portus Julius (alternatively spelled in the Latin ) was the first harbour specifically constructed to be a base for the Imperial Rome, Roman western Roman navy, naval fleet, the . The port was located near Baiae and protected by the Misenum peninsula at the n ...

. A waterway was dug from Lake Lucrino to Avernus to this end. The port's remains may still be seen under the lake's surface. Avernus was also regarded as a divine being. The 4th-5th century writer

Servius the Grammarian Servius, distinguished as Servius the Grammarian ( or ), was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries o ...

described a statue of Avernus, which perspired during the storm after the union of

and Lucrinus Lacus, and to which expiatory sacrifices were offered.

'

The term ' (plural ') was also used by ancient naturalists for certain lakes, grottos, and other places which infect the air with poisonous steams or vapors. The Cave of Dogs in Italy was a famous example. The most celebrated of these, however, is Lake Avernus. They were also called mephites. Mephitis was the Roman goddess of noxious vapors who protected against malaria. The adjective '' means 'foul-smelling' or 'malodorous'.

References

External links

* '' Cyclopædia'' (1728) article �
Averni
��.
''Lake Avernus with the Temple of Apollo and a Distant View of Cape Misenum''
(1819), a very faint pencil sketch by Joseph Turner (see also: Cape Misenum) Roman mythology Volcanoes of Italy Underworld {{AncientRome-myth-stub ca:Avern

Role in ancient Roman society

'

See also

References

External links