In a story very well known from Virgil and others, one can recognize Alba Longa as both – the first serious enemy of Rome as well as the hometown of Rome’s founders. The legends say that when Aeneas arrived from Troy after the destruction of that city, he founded Lavinium on the Italian soil. Just a couple of years later, his son founded Alba Longa near Lake Albano and centuries later Romulus and Remus came from that city and founded Rome.
Today, classicists know a lot about the development of Rome’s founding legend. While the original Latin influence spoke mainly about Romulus or Romos as the city’s founder, the Greeks preferred the Trojan hero Aeneas (occasionally even Odysseus or his offspring). As time went by, the two stories merged into one narrative with Romulus being a descendant of Aeneas. However, the original simple solution based on having Romulus as the city founder and the son or grandson of Aeneas soon stopped working. After Eratosthenes made chronology popular, it was soon apparent that there is a huge gap between the end of Trojan war in 12th century BCE and the founding of Rome in 8th century BCE – too huge to keep the father-son theory believable. This gap had to be filled.
The list of early Alban kings did exactly that – it filled the gap. It would be however a huge underestimation of the historians of that era to say, that it accomplished only this primary purpose. They seized the opportunity and made much more of it – invented kings with names and life stories that explained some of the geographical names (e.g. the name of Tiber) or even provided fabricated ancient heritage for some of the most ambitious families of the Roman Republic.
While the general idea stays the same, there are several versions of the list of the Alban kings. Let’s explore the most famous ones – those found in the works of Dionysius of Halicarnassus Livy and Ovid.
| In Dionysius | In Livy | In Ovid | |
|---|---|---|---|
1. | Ascanius | Ascanius | Ascanius |
2. | Silvius | Silvius | Silvius |
3. | Aeaneas | Aeneas Silvius | Latinus |
4. | Latinus | Latinus Silvius | Alba |
5. | Alba | Alba | Epytus |
6. | Capetus | Atys | Capys |
7. | Capys | Capys | Capetus |
8. | Calpetus | Capetus | Tiberinus |
9. | Tiberinus | Tiberinus | Remulus |
10. | Agrippa | Agrippa | Acrota |
11. | Allodius | Romulus Silvius | Aventinus |
12. | Aventinus | Aventinus | Proca |
13. | Proca | Proca | Amulius |
14. | Amulius | Amulius | Numitor |
15. | Numitor | Numitor |
Moreover, one can find a list of the Alban kings even in Virgil’s Aeneid (Book VI). It is, however, shorter than the ones previously mentioned. The author does not provide a full list, just mentions a couple of Alban kings among the descendants of Aeneas (when the titular hero visits the underworld and his father shows him the Roman heroes of the future). Here Silvius, son of Aeneas and Lavinia, established the dynasty. Apart from him, Virgil mentions Procas, Capys, Numitor, and Silvius Aeneas.
| King | In Dionysius | In Livy | In Ovid | In Virgil |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ascanius | son of Aeneas and Creusa, born in Troy first king of Alba Longa | possibly two sons of Aeneas with this name; one son of Creusa and second son of Lavinia, Livy is not sure which of them ruled Alba Longafirst, Lavinia acted as regent until Ascanius became of age | son of Aeneas, born in Troy | =Iulus son of Aeneas and Creusa, born in Troy founder of Alba Longa |
| Silvius | son of Aeneas and Lavinia born in the woods became king by a vote of the people ruled 29 years | son of Ascanius born in the woods | successor of Ascanius | son of Aeneas and Lavinia, born in the woods |
| Iulus | son of Ascanius lost the vote to Silvius, so he never became king (although held some kind of “sacred authority)ancestor of the Julii | =Ascanius (son of Aeneas and Creusa) ancestor of the Julii | not mentioned | =Ascanius |
| Aeneas (Aeneas Silvius) | son of Silvius ruled 31 years | son of Silvius | not mentioned | great fighter |
| Latinus (Latinus Silvius) | ruled 51 years | son of Aeneas Silvius | son of Silvius | not mentioned |
| Alba | ruled 38 years | son of Latinus Silvius | successor of Latinus “famous” | not mentioned |
| Epytus | not mentioned | not mentioned | successor of Alba | not mentioned |
| Capetus | ruled 26 years | son of Capys | successor of Capys | not mentioned |
| Atys | not mentioned | son of Alba | not mentioned | not mentioned |
| Capys | ruled 28 years | son of Atys | successor of Epytus | mentioned by name |
| Calpetus | ruled 13 years | not mentioned | not mentioned | not mentioned |
| Tiberinus | killed in a battle near a river,his body was carried away by the river that became known as Tiber ruled 8 years | son of Capetus drowned while crossing the river that became known as Tiber | successor of Capetus drowned in a river that became known as Tiber | not mentioned |
| Agrippa | ruled 41 years | son of Tiberinus | not mentioned | not mentioned |
| Allodius | punished by gods for his impiety;killed in a flood of the Alban lakeruled 19 years | not mentioned | not mentioned | not mentioned |
| Romulus Silvius / Remulus | not mentioned | called Romulus Silvius son of Agrippa killed by lightning | called Remulus son of Tiberinus killed by lightning for his impiety (he attempted to portry the lightning) | not mentioned |
| Acrota | not mentioned | not mentioned | son of Tiberinus “fierce” more “moderate” ruler | not mentioned |
| Aventinus | one of the seven Roman hills was named after him ruled 37 years | son of Romulus Silvius buried on a hill later called Aventine | son of Acrotaburied on a hill later called Aventine | not mentioned Virgil explaines the name of the hill in conncetion to a different Aventinus, a son of Hercules |
| Proca / Procas | called „Proca“ ruled 23 years | called „Proca“ successor (likely a son) of Aventinus | called „Proca“ successor (likely a son) of Aventinusthe nymph Pomona lived in his reign | “called Procas” mentioned by name as a glorious ruler |
| Amulius | deposed his elder brother Numitor to seize the kingship overthrown and killed by Romulus and Remus ruled 42 years | son of Proca deposed his elder brother Numitor to seize the kingship overthrown and killed by Romulus and Remus | “unjust” | not mentioned |
| Numitor | restored by Romulus and Remus | son of Proca restored by Romulus and Remus | with the help of his grandson Romulus, he recaptured the kingdom | mentioned among the Alban kings |
Sources:
Dionysius of Halicarnassus: The Roman Antiquities
Virgil: Aeneid
Ovid: Metamorphoses
Livy: Ab Urbe Condita Libri
