Tower of Astura

“Torre Astura, Astura (Greek: Ἄστυρα), is now a peninsula in the comune of Nettuno, on the coast of Latium, Italy, at the southeast extremity of the Bay of Antium, on the road to Circeii. The name also belongs to a medieval coastal tower in the same site, as well as to the river which rises at the southern foot of the Alban Hills, and has a course of about 33 km before flowing into the sea immediately to the southeast.” “We learn from Suetonius also that Astura was the occasional resort both of Augustus and Tiberius, but due to its unhealthy climate, both Augustus and Tiberius contracted here the illnesses which proved fatal to them. Existing remains show that many of the Roman nobility must have had villas there. Up to at least the early 20th century, the remains of only one villa had been found on the island itself. To the south-east, on the other hand, remains are almost entirely absent, and this portion of the coast seems to have been sparsely populated in Roman times.”