Talk:Regillus

Material at Gabii

This is a relatively new article. I didn't see it when I worked on Gabii founded on the isthmus between Lake Regillus and Lake Gabinus so there is a lot of material under Gabii that should be moved to here and suitably blended in. Despite the respectable scholarship contained in 1911 Britannica much of it is way out of date. The endless disputes about the location of the lake have been settled by topographic studies. The battle is another thing. The springs that fed the lake started being tapped by Roman aquaducts and today the waters are totally captured as part of the water supply of Rome, still using some of the ancient aquaduct. The water was traditionally not the best quality but available at higher altitide so it could water the tops of the seven hills. The topography shows a deep depression below the springs that can only have been the lake, today under agriculture. If something were to happen to cut the lines to Rome the lake would fill up again, so any reference to any mysterious geologic drying up is pure bunk, as is any identification of the lake with any of the small volcanic craters in the vicinity, although the lake at maximum extent may have included one or more. The scholars on which the 1911 article depends are a few hundred years old and did not understand any geology when they conducted their long and ridiculous dispute on the location of the lake. Gosh, maybe it was this pond. No, it must be that pond. Well, maybe it was Lacus Gabinus, etc, etc. It was a pretty big lake and you can spot its location on the satellite map by the absence for the most part of settlements there. The Romans have been into lake and marsh draining, for better or for worse. All this type of material belongs in the article. The Battle of Lake Regillus is the third of a set of three. They should be coordinated together and suitable linked.Dave (talk) 10:50, 9 September 2009 (UTC)