The present name of the city comes from the artificial lakes of the luxurious villa that Roman emperor Nero had built: in Latin Sublaqueum[3] means "under the lake." The name was applied to the town that developed nearby. The biggest of the three Subiaco Dams was then the highest dam in the world until its destruction in 1305.[citation needed] After the fall of the Roman Empire, the villa and the town were abandoned, becoming almost forgotten ruins.