Ancus Marcius () was the Roman mythology fourth king of Rome,
Ancus Marcius was believed by many Romans to have been the namesake of the Marcia gens, a plebeian family.[Niebuhr, The History of Rome, Volume 1, p. 301]
Background
Ancus was the son of Marcius (himself the son of Rome's first
pontifex maximus Numa Marcius[E. Peruzzi Le origini di Roma I. La famiglia Firenze 1970 p. 142 ff.]) and Pompilia (daughter of Numa Pompilius).
[Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, ] Ancus Marcius was thus the grandson of Numa and therefore a
Sabines.
According to Festus, Marcius was surnamed Ancus because of his crooked arm (
ancus signifying "bent" in Latin).
First acts as King
According to
Livy, Ancus's first act as king was to order the
Pontifex Maximus to copy the text concerning the performance of public ceremonies of religion from the commentaries of
Numa Pompilius to be displayed to the public on wooden tablets, so that the rites of religion should no longer be neglected or improperly performed.
When Tullus was king, he repealed the Numa-created religious edicts that had been in place before.
War
According to
Livy, the accession of Ancus emboldened the
Latin League, who assumed that the new king would follow the pious pursuit of peace adopted by his grandfather,
Numa Pompilius. The Latins accordingly made an incursion on Roman lands, and gave a contemptuous reply to a Roman embassy seeking restitution for the damage. Ancus responded by declaring war on the Latins. Livy says that this event was notable as the first time that the Romans declared war by means of the rites of the
.
Ancus Marcius marched from Rome with a newly levied army and took the Latin town of
Politorium (situated near the town of
Lanuvium) by storm. Its residents were removed to settle on the
Aventine Hill in Rome as new citizens, following the Roman traditions from wars with the
Sabines and
Alba Longa. When the other Latins subsequently occupied the empty town of Politorium, Ancus took the town again and demolished it.
[Livy, Ab Urbe Condita, ] The Latin villages of Tellenae and Ficana were also sacked and demolished.
The war then focused on the Latin town of Medullia. The town had a strong garrison and was well fortified. Several engagements took place outside the town and the Romans were eventually victorious. Ancus returned to Rome with a large amount of loot. More Latins were brought to Rome as citizens and were settled at the foot of the Aventine near the Palatine Hill, by the temple of Murcia.
Ancus Marcius incorporated the Janiculum into the city, fortifying it with a wall and connecting it with the city by a wooden bridge across the Tiber,
He then extended the Roman territory, founding the port of Ostia,
Death and successor
Ancus Marcius is reported to have died of natural causes after a rule of 24 years.
[Livy, ab urbe condita libri, ] He had two sons, one of which would likely take the throne. A member of Ancus' court, Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, ensured that Ancus' sons would be out of Rome so he could put together an election where he would gain the support of the Roman people.
Ancus Marcius was succeeded by his friend Lucius Tarquinius Priscus,[Livy, Ab Urbe Condita] Later, during the Republic and the Empire, the prominent Marcia gens claimed descent from Ancus Marcius.
