ARDEA (anc. geog.), a town of Latium, the royal residence of Turnus king of the Rutuli, (Livy); so called, either from the augury of the heron, (Hyginus); or from the excessive heat of the country, (Martial). It was a marshy, sickly situation, (Strabo, Seneca). It was built by Danaë, the mother of Perseus, (Virgil);
* In after-times this proverb was absurdly corrupted to He does not know a hawt from a hant faw.
(Virgil); about five miles distant from the sea, and 20 from Rome: now a hamlet. It was a Roman colony, (Livy); the inhabitants called Ardeates. E. Long. 17. 49. Lat. 41. 30.