There seems to have been a rivalry between Alba Longa and Lavinium. One legend states, for instance, that there was a repeated attempt to transfer the penates from Lavinium to Alba Longa but that the penates kept returning under their own power. Like Ardea, however, Lavinium remained loyal to Rome during the Latin War. One indication of Lavinium's importance as a religious center is the group of thirteen large archaic altars found in situ there. The altars were discovered in 1959 and excavated by Ferdinando Castagnoli and Lucos Cozza.
All altars face east and run north-south.
They are made of a stuccoed local tufa and are yellowish in color. Yet they all have slightly different dimensions. The altars appear to have been built gradually over the course of a long period. The altars were begun in the sixth century, and the following represents an approximation of their dates. Altar 9 was rebuilt.