Alba Longa- Roman LocationLocation · Landmark"Mother City of Rome"

The White Sow

In the Aeneid, the river-god Tiberinus rose from the water in a dream and told Aeneas he would find a great white sow lying on the shore with thirty piglets at her teats. The sow would mark the site where his son Ascanius would found a city in thirty years, named Alba for the animal's white hide. Aeneas found the sow exactly as described and sacrificed her with all her young to Juno, the goddess who had driven the Trojans across the sea.

Thirty years after Lavinium, Ascanius built the city in the Alban Hills along the volcanic lake, in the shadow of Mount Albanus. Dionysius of Halicarnassus dates the founding to approximately 1230 BCE.

The Silvian Kings

The dynasty that ruled Alba Longa took its name from Silvius, the son Lavinia bore to Aeneas after his death. She had fled into the forests when Ascanius threatened to disinherit her unborn child, and the name silvius, "of the forest," passed to every king who came after.

The Silvian kings ruled for four hundred years. Of them, Tiberinus drowned in the river that took his name, and Romulus Silvius was struck dead by lightning for building machines to imitate Jupiter's thunder. The dynasty ended in fratricide. When King Proca died, his younger son Amulius seized the throne from Numitor and killed Numitor's sons. He forced Numitor's daughter Rhea Silvia into Vesta's service so she could bear no heirs. Mars visited her there. She bore twins.

The Horatii and Curiatii

Alba Longa and Rome came to war under Tullus Hostilius, Rome's third king. Rather than destroy each other, the two cities agreed to decide sovereignty through combat between champions: the Horatii triplets for Rome, the Curiatii for Alba Longa.

Two Horatii fell quickly, leaving one Roman against three wounded Albans. The surviving Horatius ran. The Curiatii pursued at the pace their wounds allowed, stringing out across the field. Horatius turned and killed them one by one, each brother falling alone.

Horatius walked back through the gates carrying a dead man's cloak. His sister recognized it as her fiancé's and cursed him through her tears. Horatius killed her with his sword, declaring that so should perish any Roman woman who mourns an enemy. He was tried for murder and acquitted.

The Destruction

Peace lasted one generation. Alba's dictator Mettius Fufetius, commanding Alban troops alongside Rome against Fidenae, withdrew his forces at the critical moment and waited to see which side would prevail. Rome won without him.

Tullus had Mettius tied between two chariots and driven apart. Livy calls it the first and last time Romans used this punishment. Then Tullus razed Alba Longa. Roman cavalry rode through the streets while the population was marched to Rome and settled on the Caelian Hill. Patrician families, the Julii and Servilii among them, joined Rome's aristocracy. Every building was leveled except the temples. Four hundred years ended in silence.

The Latin Festival

Alba Longa's temples survived because its gods belonged to the Latins, not to the city alone. The sacred fire of Vesta, which Aeneas had carried from Troy, burned in Alba Longa before Rome received it. Roman magistrates continued to make an annual procession to Lavinium to sacrifice to the Penates and to Vesta.

On Mount Albanus, the Latin Festival gathered representatives of every Latin community each year. A white bull was sacrificed to Jupiter Latiaris on the summit, and portions of the meat were distributed to each delegation. New consuls could not depart for their provinces until the festival had been properly observed. If a ritual error occurred, the entire ceremony was repeated. Generals denied a triumph in Rome could celebrate one on Mount Albanus instead. The mountain kept its authority long after the city at its foot was gone.