Ascanius
:
In
Greek and
Roman mythology,
Ascanius was a son of
Aeneas and
Creusa. After the
Trojan War, Ascanius escaped to
Latium in
Italy with his father and fought in the Italian Wars.
Virgil's
Aeneid says he had a role in the
founding of Rome as the first king of
Alba Longa.
According to Livy, Ascanius may have been the son of Aeneas and
Lavinia and thus may have been born in Latium. Thirty years after the founding of Lavinium Ascanius founded
Alba Longa. Ascanius had a son called
Aeneas Silvius.
He was also called Iulus or Julus. From this name comes the
Gens Julia, the Julian family to which
Julius Caesar belonged.
The name Iulus was popularised by
Virgil in the
Aeneid: replacing the Greek name Ascanius with Iulus linked the Julian family of Rome to earlier mythology. The emperor
Augustus, who commissioned the work, was a great patron of the arts. As a member of the Julian family, he could claim to have three major
Olympian gods in his family tree, so he encouraged his many poets to present material on his direct descent from Aeneas.
*
Livy,
Ab Urbe Condita Book 1.
