=Aventīnus=, a son of Hercules by Rhea, who assisted Turnus against Æneas, and distinguished himself by his valour. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 7, li. 657.――――A king of Alba, buried upon mount Aventine. _Ovid_, _Fasti_, bk. 4, li. 51.――――One of the seven hills on which part of the city of Rome was built, it was 13,300 feet in circumference, and was given to the people to build houses upon, by king Ancus Martius. It was not reckoned within the precincts of the city till the reign of the emperor Claudius, because the soothsayers looked upon it as a place of ill omen, as Remus had been buried there, whose blood had been criminally shed. The word is derived, according to some, _ab avibus_, because birds were fond of the place. Others suppose that it receives its name because Aventinus, one of the Alban kings, was buried upon it. Juno, the Moon, Diana, Bona Dea, Hercules, and the goddess of Victory and Liberty, had magnificent temples built upon it. _Varro_, _de Lingua Latina_, bk. 4.――_Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 8, li. 235.――_Livy_, bk. 1, ch. 33. =Avernus=, or =Averna=, a lake of Campania near Baiæ, whose waters were so unwholesome and putrid, that no birds were seen on its banks; hence its original name was ἀορνος, _avibus carens_. The ancients made it the entrance of hell, as also one of its rivers. Its circumference was five stadia, and its depth could not be ascertained. The waters of the Avernus were indispensably necessary in all enchantments and magical processes. It may be observed, that all lakes whose stagnated waters were putrid and offensive to the smell, were indiscriminately called Averna. _Virgil_, _Æneid_, bk. 4, lis. 5, 12, &c.; bk. 6, li. 201, &c.――_Mela_, bk. 2, ch. 4.――_Strabo_, bk. 5.――_Diodorus_, bk. 4.――_Aristotle_, _on Admethics [Ethics]_. =Avesta=, a book composed by Zoroaster. =Aufeia aqua=, called afterwards Marcia, was the sweetest and most wholesome water in Rome, and it was first conveyed into the city by Ancus Martius. =Aufidēna=, now _Alfidena_, a city of the Peligni in Italy, whose inhabitants, called _Aufidenates_, were among the Sabines. _Livy_, bk. 10, ch. 12. =Aufĭdia lex=, was enacted by the tribune Aufidius Lurco, A.U.C. 692. It ordained, that if any candidate, in canvassing for an office, promised money to the tribunes, and failed in the performance, he should be excused; but if he actually paid it, he should be compelled to pay every tribune 6000 sesterces.