The place
Artificial canal of Roman date that linked the south-eastern side of Lake Paola (today Lake Sabaudia) to the Tyrrhenian Sea, crossing the plain at the foot of the Circeo promontory to avoid the dangerous sea route around it. Historical tradition links it to Nero's grand and never-completed project for a 160-mile navigable canal between Ostia and Lake Averno, recorded by Tacitus and Suetonius as one of the emperor's most ambitious — and unsuccessful — undertakings. Traces of the canal are still visible between Lake Caprolace and Lake Paola, and it is today crossed by one of the Circeo National Park's nature trails.