Ascanius

Supposed statue of Ascanio in marble from Emérita Augusta (Mérida). CenturyI, Museo Arqueológico Nacional (Madrid).

In Greek and Roman mythology, Ascanius or Julo or Yulo (in Greek Askhanios, in Latin Iulus) is the son of Aeneas and Creusa, members of the royal lineage of Troy and Dardania.

Myth

According to Roman tradition, after the fall of Troy Ascanio (together with his grandfather Anchises and his mother Creúsa) was led by his father Aeneas to the outskirts of the city to go in search of a better destiny since his mother of Aeneas, Venus, had recommended that he not stay to die as a good ally, since the Fates had spun a better future for him and his lineage; then they embark on a journey and although they suffer some losses (Creusa, Anchises) they manage to arrive to Lazio (place where Apollo had prophesied an eternal kingdom); After a fierce war with the Laurentians, Aeneas finally takes power, although not for long, since he is deified by his mother and takes the name of Índiges. Aeneas had founded the city of Lavinio before becoming a numen, in honor of his new wife: Lavinia; but Ascanio, being left without a father, went to Mount Albano to found another which he called Alba Longa, and founded the lineage of the Julos, from which Romulus and Remus would eventually be born.

Tito Livio, however, says that Ascanio is the son of Lavinia, although he seems to distinguish him from Ascanio son of Creúsa. According to this author, Silvio, who succeeded Ascanio on the throne of Alba Longa, was Ascanio's son; instead, Dionysius of Halicarnassus says they were half brothers.

Another tradition says that Ascanius, after leaving Troy, reigned over the region of the Dascillitis (in the Propontis), and later, together with his cousin Scamandrio, returned to Troy to restore Hector's descendants to the throne of the city.