Lucrinus Lacus or Lucrine Lake (; ) is a lake in

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 ...

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

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 ...

and is separated from the Gulf of Pozzuoli 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 s ...

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 Hol ...

in 1538. The lake's modern dimensions are long and about deep. The recorded history of Lucrinus Lacus dates back to

Sergius Orata Gaius Sergius Orata (Floruit, fl. c. 95 BC) was an Ancient Roman who was a successful merchant, inventor and hydraulic engineer. He is credited with inventing the Oyster farming, cultivation of oysters and refinement to the hypocaust method of hea ...

, 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 no ...

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

Baiae Baiae (; ) was an ancient Roman town situated on the northwest shore of the Gulf of Naples and now in the ''comune'' of Bacoli. It was a fashionable resort for centuries in antiquity, particularly towards the end of the Roman Republic, when i ...

(cf.

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

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, orator, writer and Academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises tha ...

'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 historians by modern scholars. Tacitus’ two major historical works, ''Annals'' ( ...

Agrippina the Younger Julia Agrippina (6 November AD 15 – 23 March AD 59), also referred to as Agrippina the Younger, was Roman empress from AD 49 to 54, the fourth wife and niece of emperor Claudius, and the mother of Nero. Agrippina was one of the most prominent ...

was

murdered Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excu ...

by the emperor

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

's assassins in her villa on the shores of Lucrinus Lacus in AD 59 after escaping an 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 Gulf of Pozzuoli. The ancient Via Herculanea road ran on a strip of land parallel and further to seaward from the present one and now submerged, 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 "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...

credited to

Heracles Heracles ( ; ), born Alcaeus (, ''Alkaios'') or Alcides (, ''Alkeidēs''), was a Divinity, divine hero in Greek mythology, the son of ZeusApollodorus1.9.16/ref> and Alcmene, and the foster son of Amphitryon.By his adoptive descent through ...

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. Agrippa is well known for his important military victories, notably the B ...

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 (; 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 ...

's ''

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

'', 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 Imperial Rome, Roman western Roman navy, naval fleet, the . The port was located near Baiae and protected by the Misenum peninsula at the n ...

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

frazione A ''frazione'' (: ''frazioni'') 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 consolidat ...

'' of the ''

comune A (; : , ) is an administrative division of Italy, roughly equivalent to a township or municipality. It is the third-level administrative division of Italy, after regions () and provinces (). The can also have the City status in Italy, titl ...

'' of

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

Notes

References

* Endnote: **

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

, ''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