Ancus Marcius

Depiction of Ancus Marcius, allegedly as a self-portrait of Lucius Marcius Philippus, who was responsible for the minting as mint master ( denarius , 1st century BC); The reverse shows the aqueduct built by Quintus Marcius Rex (according to Fontinus, the only praetor as builder)

Ancus Marcius (also Martius ) (* 675 BC?; † 616 BC) is the mythical fourth king of Rome . The historicity of his existence and of all the circumstances and details of his life is, like much of the Roman royal era, uncertain.

Ancus Marcius was the grandson of King Numa Pompilius and was born in 640 BC. Elected king ( rex ) after Tullus Hostilius . Although he, like his grandfather, was considered a lover of justice and religious, he fought several wars, for example against the Sabines . In addition, he had to use his army against his own insurgent population, as they saw him as weak and wanted to overthrow. He had the port city of Ostia built at the mouth of the Tiber River and connected the banks of the Tiber in Rome with a pile bridge. In ancient times, this pile bridge was considered to be the world's first wooden bridge.

He also established the first prison in the city . Ancus Marcius revived many institutions and customs which his grandfather had once introduced and which had been forgotten after his death. He is also said to have greatly increased the power and size of Rome during his 24-year reign. Since he was considered a good king, he was astonishingly popular even in the times of the republic: The Marcians traced back to him, and Gaius Julius Caesar also claimed to be descended from him.

swell

Livy Ab urbe condita 1, 32-33
Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Antiquitates Romanae 3, 36-45
Cicero De re publica 2, 33
Plutarch , Numa 21
Suetonius Divus Iulius 6

literature

Friedrich Münzer : Marcius 9. In: Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XIV, 2, Stuttgart 1930, Col. 1543.
Dominique Briquel : Le règne d'Ancus Marcius: unproblemème de comparaison indoeuropéenne. In: Mélanges d'Archéologie et d'Histoire de l'École française de Rome. 107, 1995, ISSN 0223-5102 , pp. 183-195, online .

Christa Frateantonio: Marcius I 3rd In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 7, Metzler, Stuttgart 1999, ISBN 3-476-01477-0 , Sp. 857.

Web links

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predecessor	Office	successor
Tullus Hostilius	King of Rome 640–616 BC Chr.	Lucius Tarquinius Priscus

personal data
SURNAME	Ancus Marcius
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Martius
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	mythical fourth king of Rome
DATE OF BIRTH	around 675 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	616 BC Chr.