Julia gens

During this interval and under the regency of Lavinia, a woman of great capacity, the Latins stayed and the united subjects of the prince's father and grandfather continued firm in their allegiance.

I am not without some doubts, for who can affirm with certainty in a matter of such antiquity whether this was the same Ascanius mentioned above or one older than him born of Creusa, wife to Aeneas before the destruction of Troy, and who accompanied his father in his flight from thence, whom being also called Iulus, the Julian family claim as the founder of their name.

This Ascanius wheresoever and of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of Aeneas, finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city then in a flourishing and opulent state considering the circumstances of those times, to his mother or stepmother and built a new one on the Alban Mount, which from its situation being stretched along the hill was called Alba Longa.

Between the building of Lavinium and the transplanting the colony to Alba Longa, the interval was only about 30 years, yet so rapidly had this people increased in power, especially after the defeat of the Etrurians that not even on the death of Aeneas, nor afterwards during the regency of a woman and the first essays of a youthful reign did either Mezentius and the Etrurians or any other of the bordering nations dare to attempt hostilities against them.

Uh, and what we can see is we have a small figure, winged figure, a male figure, so, um, a, a, a, a putto, a sort of a cupid, and it probably is Cupid or Eros, riding on a dolphin.

And this has normally been interpreted as, as Eros, as Cupid, the divine son of Aphrodite, Venus, who is, as you pointed out, uh, the mother of Aeneas and the mother of the entire Julian family through that line, as we know from, uh, Virgil's Aeneid and, and other poems and literature.

Uh, so this does seem to be...

Uh, going back to your earlier point, uh, about Augustus not having any issues and his having some sort of divine, potentially divine aspect.

And in a lot of Augustan rhetoric, we have the idea of peace achieved by land and sea.

Um, this is the way of describing the entire world.

But again, uh, the, the Cupid most likely being a sort of strong allusion to his divine lineage as a member of the Julian ... family.

There are other aspects of, uh, divine association.

During this interval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a woman of great capacity, the Latine state and the united subjects of the prince's father and grandfather continued firm in their allegiance.

I am not without some doubts, for who can affirm with certainty in a matter of such antiquity, whether this was the same Ascanius mentioned above, or one older than him, born of Creusa, wife to Aeneas, before the destruction of Troy, and who accompanied his father in his flight from thence, whom, being also called Iulus, the Julian family claim as the founder of their name.

This Ascanius, wheresoever and of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of Aeneas, finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city, then in a flourishing and opulent state considering the circumstances of those times, to his mother or stepmother, and built a new one on the Alban Mount, which, from its situation, being stretched along the hill, was called Alba Longa.

Between the building of Lavinium and the transplanting the colony to Alba Longa, the interval was only about thirty years.

During this interval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a woman of great capacity, the Latin state and the united subjects of the prince's father and grandfather continued firm in their allegiance.

I am not without some doubts, for who can affirm with certainty in a matter of such antiquity, whether this was the same Ascanius mentioned above, or one older than him, born of Creusa, wife to Aeneas, before the destruction of Troy, and who accompanied his father in his flight from thence, whom, being also called Iulus, the Julian family claim as the founder of their name.

This Ascanius, wheresoever and of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of Aeneas, finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city, then in a flourishing and opulent state considering the circumstances of those times, to his mother or stepmother, and built a new one on the Alban Mount, which, from its situation, being stretched along the hill, was called Alba Longa.

Between the building of Lavinium and the transplanting the colony to Alba Longa, the interval was only about thirty years.

During this interval, and under the regency of Lavinia, a woman of great capacity, the Latine state and the united subjects of the prince's father and grandfather continued firm in their allegiance.

I am not without some doubts, for who can affirm with certainty in a matter of such antiquity, whether this was the same Ascanius mentioned above, or one older than him, born of Creusa, wife to Aeneas, before the destruction of Troy, and who accompanied his father in his flight from thence, whom, being also called Iulus, the Julian family claim as the founder of their name.

This Ascanius, wheresoever and of whatsoever mother born, certainly the son of Aeneas, finding the number of inhabitants in Lavinium too great, left that city, then in a flourishing and opulent state considering the circumstances of those times, to his mother or stepmother, and built a new one on the Alban mount, which, from its situation, being stretched along the hill, was called Alba Longa.

Between the building of Lavinium and the transplanting the colony to Alba Longa, the interval was only about thirty years.