Alba Longa
Alba Longa was a city in ancient Lazio ( Italy ), about 20 kilometers southeast of Rome , on the west bank of Lake Albano (Albano Lake), on the rocky ridge of the Alban Mountains . It is believed that today's Castel Gandolfo , the summer residence of the Popes , corresponds to Alba Longa.
In Roman mythology , the founding of the city is attributed to Ascanius , son of the Trojan Aeneas , and around 1152 BC. Dated. The city has long been the cultural center and capital of the ancient Latin Association . According to the legend about the founding of Rome, the two abandoned twins Romulus and Remus were sons of Rhea Silvia , a vestal virgin , and Mars , the god of war . Rhea Silvia was the daughter of the King of Alba Longa, Numitor Silvius . In this respect, Alba Longa is considered the mother city of Rome.
The legendary (because historically not proven) third king of Rome , Tullus Hostilius , is said to have been in the year 665 BC Alba Longa destroyed and the inhabitants settled on the Caelius in Rome.
The ancient Roman patrician dynasty of the Julians, with their most famous representative Gaius Julius Caesar , originally came from Alba Longa.
See also
literature
- Christian Hülsen : Alba Longa . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume I, 1, Stuttgart 1893, Col. 1301 f.
- Gisela MA Richter : Alba Longa (Castel Gandolfo) Latium, Italy . In: Richard Stillwell et al. a. (Ed.): The Princeton Encyclopedia of Classical Sites. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ 1976, ISBN 0-691-03542-3 .
- Holger Saturday : Alba Longa. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 1, Metzler, Stuttgart 1996, ISBN 3-476-01471-1 , column 437.
Coordinates: 41 ° 44 ′ 48.9 ″ N , 12 ° 39 ′ 0.9 ″ E