Editing Ascanius

{{Short description|Figure in Roman legendary lore}}
{{Other uses}}
[[File:Aeneas wounded MAN Napoli Inv9009.jpg|thumb|The boy Ascanius weeps and Venus hovers nearby as the physician [[Iapyx]] treats the wound of Aeneas (wall painting from [[Pompeii]], 1st century AD).]]

'''Ascanius''' ({{IPAc-en|ə|ˈ|s|k|eɪ|n|i|ə|s}}; [[Ancient Greek]]:  Ἀσκάνιος)<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.65-1.70</ref> was a [[Kings of Alba Longa |legendary king of Alba Longa]] (traditional reign: 1176 BC to 1138 BC) and the son of the [[Troy|Trojan]] hero [[Aeneas]] and of [[Creusa of Troy|Creusa]], daughter of [[Priam]]. He is a significant figure in [[Roman mythology]] because of his family connections: as the son of the [[founding of Rome|Roman ancestor-figure]] Aeneas (himself the son of [[Venus (mythology)|the goddess Venus]] and the Trojan prince [[Anchises]]), and as a forebear of the Roman people. Under his additional name '''Iulus''', he was claimed as the particular ancestor of the [[gens Iulia]], the family of [[Julius Caesar]], and therefore a progenitor of the first line of Roman emperors, the [[Julio-Claudian dynasty]]. Some Roman genealogies also make him an ancestor of [[Romulus]] and [[Remus]], the founders of the city of Rome itself.

Like his father, Ascanius appears as a major character in [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]''.

==Mythology==
In [[Greek mythology|Greek]] and [[Roman mythology]], Ascanius was the son of the Trojan prince [[Aeneas]] and [[Creusa of Troy|Creusa]], daughter of [[Priam]]. After the [[Trojan War]], as the city burned, Aeneas escaped to [[Latium]] in [[Italy]], taking his father [[Anchises]] and his child Ascanius with him, though Creusa died during the escape.

According to [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], Ascanius' original name was Euryleon and this name was changed to Ascanius after his flight from Troy.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.65</ref> According to Virgil, Ascanius was also called Iulus or Julus. The [[gens Julia]], the clan to which [[Julius Caesar]] belonged, claimed descent from Ascanius/Iulus, his father Aeneas, and, ultimately, the goddess [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]], the mother of Aeneas in myth, his father being the mortal Anchises.

[[File:Amphora Aineias Ankhises 470 BC Staatliche Antikensammlungen.jpg|thumb|Aeneas carrying Anchises, with his wife leading the way and Ascanius between them ([[red-figure pottery|red-figure]] [[amphora]] from a Greek workshop in [[Etruria]], ca. 470 BC)]]
Dionysius however, identified Julus as a son of Ascanius who disputed the succession of the kingdom of Alba Longa with Silvius, upon the death of Ascanius.<ref>Dionysius of Halicarnassus, ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.70</ref>

According to another legend mentioned by [[Livy]], Ascanius may have been the son of Aeneas and [[Lavinia]] and thus born in [[Latium]], not [[Troy]]. Ascanius later fought in the Italian Wars along with his father Aeneas.

After the death of Aeneas, Ascanius became king of Lavinium and an Etruscan king named [[Mezentius]] took advantage of the occasion to besiege the city.<ref>Another tradition says that he was too young to reign and that Lavinia reigned in his stead for a number of years until he came of age, upon which, Ascanius founded Alba Longa and left Lavinia in charge of Lavinium, q.v. Dionysius of Halicarnassus ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.65</ref> Mezentius succeeded in making the city surrender and agree to pay a yearly tribute. Upon his retirement, Ascanius fell upon him and his army unaware and entirely defeated Mezentius and killed his son Lausus. Mezentius was forced to agree to pay a yearly tribute.  Subsequent to this, exactly thirty years after the founding of Lavinium, Ascanius founded the city of [[Alba Longa]] and became its first king. He left Lavinia in charge of the city of Lavinium. Ascanius was succeeded by [[Silvius (mythology)|Silvius]], who was either his younger brother or his son. Ascanius died in the 28th year of his reign.

==''Aeneid''==
[[File:RomanVirgilFolio163r.jpg|thumb|Ascanius shooting Sylvia's stag, in the 5th-century [[Roman Vergil]] manuscript]]However, in the ''[[Aeneid]]'', [[Virgil]] claims that Mezentius fought in the Italian Wars at the time [[Aeneas]] was alive. In the Aeneid, it is Aeneas who kills Lausus after harming Mezentius, who escaped while his son faced the Trojan king. When the news about Lausus' death reaches Mezentius, he comes back to face Aeneas, and is killed too. In this account, Ascanius does not participate in these deaths.

Nevertheless, Virgil shows Ascanius' first experience at war. In the ''Aeneid'', Ascanius is a teenager without real war experiences, but while besieged by the Italians, Ascanius launches an arrow against Numanus, the husband of the youngest sister of [[Turnus]]. After killing Numanus, Apollo comes and says to Ascanius:

''Macte nova virtute, puer:  sic itur ad astra,''
''dis genite et geniture deos.''

This phrase can be translated into English as: "Go forth with new value, boy: thus is the path to the stars; son of gods that will have gods as sons." or "Blessings on your fresh courage, boy, scion of gods and ancestor of gods yet to be, so it is man rises to the stars." In this verse, Virgil makes a clear reference to the offspring of Iulus, from whom [[Emperor Augustus|Augustus Caesar]] claimed descent. Therefore, in this verse Virgil refers to the [[Gens Julia]], the family of Augustus and [[Julius Caesar]], who was deified after his death.

[[File:Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia 1682 Claude Lorrain.jpg|thumb|''[[Landscape with Ascanius Shooting the Stag of Sylvia]]'' (1682), [[Claude Lorrain]]'s last painting]]
''[[Sic itur ad astra]]'' become proverbial, and several mottos use an ''ad astra'' phrase. After this episode, Apollo orders to the Trojans to keep Ascanius away from the war.

In this same episode Ascanius, before launching the fatal arrow in Numanus, prays to Jupiter, saying: ''Jupiter omnipotens, audacibus annue cœptis'' ("Omnipotent Jupiter, please favour my bold attempt"). The last part of the [[hexameter]] became the United States motto ''[[annuit coeptis]]''.

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 four major [[Olympian gods]] in his family tree: ([[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]], [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]]), so he encouraged his many poets to emphasize his supposed descent from Aeneas.

==See also==
*[[Augustan literature (ancient Rome)|Augustan literature]]
*[[Gens Julia]]
*[[Kingdom of Rome]]
*[[The Golden Bough (mythology)]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
* [[Livy]], ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|Ab urbe condita]]'' Book 1.
* [[Virgil]], ''Aeneid'', Book IX.

==External links==
{{Commons category|Ascanius}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20110714104443/http://poetry.eserver.org/aeneid-l.txt The ''Aeneid'' in Latin] 
*[http://www.poetryintranslation.com/PITBR/Latin/VirgilAeneidIX.htm#_Toc4666551 The ''Aeneid'' in English]

{{s-start | noclear = true }}
{{s-reg | leg }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Aeneas]] }}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Latin kings of Alba Longa|King of Alba Longa]] }}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Silvius (mythology)|Silvius]] }}
{{s-end}}
{{Aeneid}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Characters in Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Characters in the Aeneid]]
[[Category:Kings of Alba Longa]]
[[Category:Kings in Greek mythology]]