Ventotene

Ventotene (ventoˈtɛːne; locally Vientutene; Pandataria or Pandateria, from Pandatería, or Πανδατωρία ) is one of the Pontine Islands in the Tyrrhenian Sea, off the coast of Gaeta right at the border between Lazio and Campania, Italy. The municipality of Ventotene, of the province of Latina (Lazio) had 708 permanent residents . The island, the remains of an ancient volcano, is elongated, with a length of and a maximum width of about . The municipality includes the small ancillary island of Santo Stefano, located to the east, which was the site of a massive prison, now closed. Further islands are Ponza, Palmarola and Zannone, located to the west. Ventotene has a typical Mediterranean climate with hot, dry summers and mild, wet winters that tend to be very windy. Vento, as in the island’s name, meaning wind in Italian, is apt to describe the prominent weather condition for this small island far out at sea. The temperature never drops below . Ventotene, like all the Pontine Islands, was owned by the Emperor Augustus (r. 31 BC - 14 AD) who had a huge summer palace built on the island in the early part of his reign, including extensive thermae, terraces, gardens, an exedra and aqueducts, and which remained thereafter an imperial property. It is now known as the Villa Giulia as it was possibly the place to which he banished his daughter Julia the Elder in 2 BC as a reaction to her excessive adultery and where he could easily keep an eye on her. Augustus had two villas on the island but Julia was probably sent to the Villa Giulia located on the Punta d'Eolo on the north of the island, with all the facilities of an imperial retreat. In 29 AD, emperor Tiberius banished Augustus' granddaughter Agrippina the Elder, who perished, probably of malnutrition, on 18 October 33 AD. After Agrippina the Elder's son Gaius, (better known as Caligula), became emperor in 37 AD, he went to Pandataria to collect her remains and reverently brought them back to Rome.