| King of Alba Longa | |
|---|---|
 Ferdinand Bol's 17th-century mythological painting shows Aeneas, in armor, awarding laurels to the winner of a race; he rules jointly on the same dais with Latinus. | |
| Details | |
| First monarch | Ascanius |
| Last monarch | Gaius Cluilius |
| Formation | ca. 1151 BC |
| Abolition | mid-seventh century BC |
| Residence | Alba Longa |
The kings of Alba Longa, or Alban kings (Latin: reges Albani), were a series of legendary kings of Latium, who ruled from the ancient city of Alba Longa. In the mythic tradition of ancient Rome, they fill the 400-year gap between the settlement of Aeneas in Italy and the founding of the city of Rome by Romulus.[1] It was this line of descent to which the Julii claimed kinship.[2] The traditional line of the Alban kings ends with Numitor, the grandfather of Romulus and Remus. One later king, Gaius Cluilius, is mentioned by Roman historians, although his relation to the original line, if any, is unknown; and after his death, a few generations after the time of Romulus, the city was destroyed by Tullus Hostilius, the third King of Rome, and its population transferred to Alba's daughter city.[3]
- ^ C. F. L'Homond Selections from Viri Romae p.1
- ^ Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antiquities I.70.4
- ^ Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita, i. 23–30.