Ascanius

In the primary tradition preserved in Roman sources, Ascanius is the son of the Trojan hero Aeneas (mother usually Creusa; Livy preserves an alternate tradition naming Lavinia as mother). After the fall of Troy and Aeneas's wanderings, Ascanius succeeds to rulership in the Trojan settlement in Italy: he is king of Lavinium and—according to some accounts—founds Alba Longa thirty years after Lavinium's foundation and becomes its first king. The name Iulus/Julus is used especially in Virgil to link Ascanius with the gens Iulia; Dionysius of Halicarnassus reports an original name, Euryleon, changed after the flight from Troy in some traditions.

Ancient accounts do not provide a detailed physical description. Virgil's Aeneid depicts Ascanius as a youth (puer) and adolescent warrior: young enough that the god Apollo, after a violent deed, addresses him as a boy and orders that he be kept from further combat. Beyond his presentation as a teenage combatant and princely figure, sources do not record specific corporeal details such as stature, coloration, or distinctive dress.

Ascanius is portrayed as a mortal prince with martial and leadership roles rather than supernatural powers. In Virgil (Aeneid, Book IX) he takes part in battle as a teenager and kills the warrior Numanus with an arrow; immediately afterward Apollo praises his courage and instructs the Trojans to keep him from further fighting, implying divine favor for his line. In historiographical traditions (e.g., Livy, Dionysius as summarized in modern compilations) Ascanius succeeds Aeneas, exercises kingship over Lavinium, and—according to some accounts—founds Alba Longa and establishes a dynastic line (including the eponym Iulus/Julus or a son named Iulus), serving principally as progenitor and legitimizing ancestor for later Roman houses.