§1.66.1τριακοστῷ δὲ ὕστερον ἔτει μετὰ τὴν κτίσιν τοῦ Λαουϊνίου πόλιν ἑτέραν οἰκίζει κατὰ τὸ γενόμενον Αἰνείᾳ θέσφατον Ἀσκάνιος ὁ Αἰνείου καὶ μετάγει τούς τʼ ἐκ Λαουϊνίου καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Λατίνων ὅσοις ἦν βουλομένοις ἄμεινον οἰκεῖν εἰς τὴν νεόκτιστον, ὄνομα τῇ πόλει θέμενος Ἄλβαν.
Thirty years after the founding of Lavinium, Ascanius, the son of Aeneas, founded another city according to the oracle given to Aeneas, and removed thither both those from Lavinium and as many of the other Latins as wished to dwell in a better place, naming the city Alba.
ἔστι δʼ ἡ Ἄλβα καθʼ Ἑλλάδα γλῶσσαν Λευκή, σαφηνισμοῦ δʼ ἕνεκα διορίζεται παρʼ ἑτέραν πόλιν ὁμώνυμον ἐπικλήσει τὸ σχῆμα ἐπικατηγορούσῃ, καί ἐστιν ὥσπερ σύνθετον ἤδη τοὔνομα ἐξ ἀμφοῖν Ἄλβα λόγγα, τοῦτο δʼ ἔστι Λευκὴ μακρά. §1.66.2νῦν μὲν οὖν ἔρημός ἐστιν· ἐπὶ γὰρ Ὁστιλίου Τύλλου Ῥωμαίων βασιλέως στασιάζειν δόξασα πρὸς τὴν ἀποικίαν περὶ τῆς ἀρχῆς ἀνῃρέθη· τὸ δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ πολιτευόμενον πλῆθος ἡ καθελοῦσα τὴν μητρόπολιν ὑπεδέξατο Ῥώμη.
Now Alba is "White" in the Greek tongue, but for the sake of clarity it is distinguished from another city of the same name by an epithet indicating its shape, and its name is now as it were a compound of both, Alba Longa, which means "White Long." At present, indeed, it is deserted; for in the time of Tullus Hostilius, king of the Romans, having been thought to be planning a revolt against her own colony for the sake of the sovereignty, she was destroyed; but the multitude of her citizens was received by Rome, which had demolished the mother-city.
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα μὲν ἐν τοῖς ἱκνουμένοις χρόνοις ἐγένετο, ἡνίκα δὲ ᾠκίζετο πρὸς ὄρει καὶ λίμνῃ κατεσκευάσθη τὸ μέσον ἐπέχουσα ἀμφοῖν, καὶ ἦν ὥσπερ τείχη τῆς πόλεως ταῦτα δυσάλωτον αὐτὴν ποιοῦντα.
But these things happened in due course of time; whereas at the time it was being founded, it was built near a mountain and a lake, occupying the space between both, and these served as walls for the city, making it difficult to be taken.
τό τε γὰρ ὅρος ἐν τοῖς πάνυ ὀχυρόν τε καὶ ὑψηλόν ἐστιν ἥ τε λίμνη βαθεῖα καὶ μεγάλη, καὶ αὐτὴν διὰ κλισιάδων ἀνοιγομένων ὑποδέχεται τὸ πεδίον ταμιευομένων ὁπόσον βούλονται τῶν ἀνθρώπων τὸ ὕδωρ.
For the mountain is exceedingly strong and high, and the lake is deep and large, and the plain receives its water through floodgates that are opened, while men regulate as much of it as they wish.
§1.66.3ὑπόκειται δὲ τῇ πόλει πεδία θαυμαστὰ μὲν ἰδεῖν, πλούσια δὲ καὶ οἴνους καὶ καρποὺς ἐξενεγκεῖν παντοδαποὺς καὶ οὐδὲν ἐνδεεστέρους τῆς ἄλλης Ἰταλίας, μάλιστα δὲ τὸν καλούμενον Ἀλβανὸν οἶνον ἡδὺν καὶ καλόν, ἔξω τοῦ Φαλερίνου λεγομένου τῶν γοῦν ἄλλων ἁπάντων διαφορώτατον.
Beneath the city lie plains, wonderful to behold, and rich in producing all kinds of wines and fruits, in no way inferior to the rest of Italy, and especially the so-called Alban wine, sweet and excellent, which, except for the so-called Falernian, is at least the most outstanding of all others.