View source for Aventinus of Alba Longa

{{Distinguish|Aventinus (mythology)}}
{{Other uses|Aventinus (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Aventinus Silvius from Nuremberg chronicles.png|thumb|200x200px|Aventinus Silvius from Nuremberg chronicles]]
'''Aventinus''' (said to have reigned 854-817 BC),<ref>[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] ''Roman Antiquities'' 1.71</ref> one of the mythical kings of [[Alba Longa]], who was buried on the [[Aventine Hill]] later named after him.  He is said to have reigned thirty-seven years, and to have been succeeded by [[Procas]], the father of [[Amulius]].

[[Maurus Servius Honoratus|Servius]], in analysing [[Virgil]]'s ''[[Aeneid]]'', Book vii. 656, speaks of an Aventinus, a king of the aboriginal inhabitants of Rome, who was killed and buried on the hill afterwards called the [[Aventine Hill]].  This king may be conflated with this one or with [[Aventinus (mythology)|a separate figure]] in the ''Aeneid'':

:"The Aventine is a hill in the city of Rome.  It is accepted that it derives its name from birds (aves) which, rising from the Tiber, nested there (as we read in the eighth book of a suitable home for the nests of ill-omened birds).  This is because of a king of the Aboriginal Italians, Aventinus by name, who was both killed and buried there - just as the Alban king Aventinus was, he who was succeeded by Procas.  Varro, however, states that amongst the Roman people, the Sabines accepted this mountain when it was offered them by Romulus, and called it the Aventine after the Aventus river in its area.  It is therefore accepted that these different opinions came later, for in the beginning it was called Aventinus after either the birds or the Aboriginal King: from which it is accepted that the son of Hercules mentioned here took his name from that of the hill, not vice versa."<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/cgi-bin/ptext?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.02.0053&layout=&loc=7.657|title=Commentary on the Aeneid of Virgil|last=Maurus Servius Honoratus|authorlink=Maurus Servius Honoratus|publisher=[[Perseus Project]], [[Tufts University]]|accessdate=March 28, 2013}}</ref>

==Family tree==
{{Latin kings of Alba Longa family tree|chart-top=true}}

==References==
<references/>

== Sources ==
* [[Livy|Liv. i. 3]]
* [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus|Dionys. i. 71]]
* [[Fasti (poem)|Ovid, ''Fasti'' iv. 51.]]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060721231725/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/0427.html Smith, Biographical Dictionary]}}

{{s-start | noclear = true }}
{{s-reg | leg }}
{{s-bef | before = [[Romulus Silvius]] }}
{{s-ttl | title  = [[Latin kings of Alba Longa|King of Alba Longa]] }}
{{s-aft | after  = [[Procas]] }}
{{s-end}}

[[Category:Kings of Alba Longa]]