mai regions. Since its creation as an organized Territory, Alaska has steadily advanced in population and industries.
ALBA LONGA, a considerable city of Latium, founded by Ascanius, son of Æneas, in B. C. 1152. It was the birthplace of Romulus, under whose dominion it fell, in consequence of the victory of the Romans in the contest between the Horatii and the Curiatii. It was situated on the opposite side of the Lake Albano from where the new town of Albano stands. There was also a city of Alba near the Lacus Fucinus; an Alba Pompeia in Liguria; and an Alba Julia, now Weissenburg, in Transylvania.
ALBAN, ST., the first Christian martyr in Great Britain, lived in the 3d century. After having served years as a soldier under the Emperor Diocletian, he returned to Britain, embraced Christianity, and suffered martyrdom in the great persecution of Diocletian.
ALBANI, a powerful family of Rome, which has supplied the Roman Catholic Church with several cardinals. Two of them are well known as patrons of the fine arts: (1) Albani, Alessandro, born in 1692; died in 1779; he was a great virtuoso, and possessed a collection of drawings and engravings which, at his death, was purchased by George III. for 14,000 crowns. (2) Albani, Giovanni Francesco, nephew of the former, born 1720; a great friend to the Jesuits, but in other respects liberal and enlightened. His palace was plundered by the French in 1798, when he made his escape to Naples, stripped of all his possessions. Died in 1803.
ALBANI, FRANCESCO, a famous Italian painter, born at Bologna, 1578; was a scholar of Guido. He was fond of representing the fair sex, and his compositions, in love subjects, are held in high esteem. The most celebrated of the productions are: “The Sleeping Venus,” “Diana in the Bath,” “Danaë Reclining,” “Galathea on the Sea," and “Europa on the Bull.” He has been called the Anacreon of painters. It is said that his second wife, who was very beautiful, and his children, served as models for his Venuses and Cupids. Died in 1660. His brother and disciple, Giovanni Battista, was a distinguished historical and landscape painter. Died in 1668.
ALBANI, MARIE EMMA (LAJEUNESSE), a dramatic soprano and opera singer, born in 1852, at Chambly, near Montreal, Canada. After studying with Lamperti, at Milan, she made her début at Messina (1870), in "La Sonnambula," under the name Albani, in compliment to the city of Albany, where her public career began.
ALBANIA, the name given to a region between the Adriatic Sea, Greece, Macedonia, and Montenegro. Upper or northern Albania formed part of the Illyria of the Romans; lower or southern Albania corresponds to ancient Epirus. It comprises the vilayets of Scutari and Janina and parts of Monastir and Kossovo. It formed the southwestern portion of former European Turkey, and extends along the western shore of the Balkan peninsula, from the river Bojana to the Gulf of Arta. There are three lakes, Scutari, Ochrida, and Janina. The principal rivers are the Boyana, Drin, Shkumbi, and Artino. A fine climate and a favorable soil would seem to invite the inhabitants to agriculture, but in the N. little is cultivated but maize, with some rice and barley, in the valleys; the mountain terraces are used as pastures for numerous herds of cattle and sheep. In the S. the slopes of the lower valleys are covered with olives, fruit, and mulberry trees, intermixed with patches of vines and maize, while the densely wooded mountain ridges furnish valuable supplies of timber. The plateau of Janina yields abundance of grain; and in the valleys opening to the S. the finer fruits are produced, along with maize, rice, and wheat. The inhabitants form a peculiar people, the Albanians, called by the Turks Arnauts, and by themselves Skipetar. The Albanians are half-civilized mountaineers, frank to a friend, vindictive to an enemy. They are constantly under arms, and live in perpetual anarchy. At one time the Albanians were all Christians; but after the death of their last chief, the hero Skanderbeg, in 1467, and their subjugation by the Turks, a large part became Mohammedans. Albania became an independent state in 1912. Pop. about 850,000. Durazzo, the capital, 5,000; Scutari, 32,000. Prince Wilhelm of Wied accepted the crown in March, 1914, but fled at the outbreak of the European War and the state fell into anarchy. Essad Pasha Topdani attempted to establish a military government in October, 1914, but failed. Austrian armies overran Albania in 1916 and again in 1917. The Italian general commanding Italian forces proclaimed the independence of the country and a government was set up at Durazzo. The political status of Albania was undetermined in 1920. The people had turned against Italy by whom they thought they had been betrayed in offering Scutari to Jugoslavia and south Albania to Greece.
