Alba Longa

Origins

Roman tradition held that Ascanius, son of the Trojan hero Aeneas, founded Alba Longa about thirty years after Lavinium, and placed its foundation in the 12th century BCE. Archaeology shows Iron Age villages and cemeteries around the Alban Lake and Monte Cavo from about 1000 BCE, but no single city has been firmly identified.

Rule and society

The Romans described a line of Alban kings, from Silvius to Numitor and his usurping brother Amulius, but these are legendary. What is more secure is the role of the Alban Hills as a religious centre for the Latin peoples: the sanctuary of Jupiter Latiaris on Monte Cavo hosted the Feriae Latinae, a shared festival that Rome kept celebrating long after Alba disappeared.

Decline and legacy

According to Livy, Rome under Tullus Hostilius defeated Alba after the duel of the Horatii and Curiatii in the mid-7th century BCE, razed the city and moved its people to the Caelian Hill. Leading Roman families such as the Julii claimed Alban descent, and the Latin League inherited its religious role.

Few sources survive for this state; details are uncertain.