Ancus Marcius
Ancus Marcius was, by Roman tradition, the fourth king of Rome, reigning from about 640 to 616 BC. Almost nothing about him can be established as fact; the accounts come from Livy, Dionysius of Halicarnassus and others writing five or six centuries later, working from family traditions, antiquarian reconstruction and the desire to explain existing institutions by attributing them to a founder. Tradition makes him the grandson of Numa Pompilius, the second king, through his mother, and presents him as a ruler who combined Numa's religious concerns with military capacity — a deliberate contrast with the warlike Tullus Hostilius who preceded him. He is said to have begun by having the pontiffs publish Numa's religious commentaries on public tablets, restoring rites that had lapsed. The war traditions credit him with establishing the fetial procedure, the formal ritual by which Rome declared war through priestly envoys demanding restitution and waiting a set number of days — the origin of the Roman claim that its wars were always just and defensive. He is credited with defeating the Latins and settling large numbers of them on the Aventine, which the tradition uses to explain the origin of the plebeians. The works attributed to him are the more plausible material: the first bridge over the Tiber, the Pons Sublicius, built entirely of wood without metal so that it could be dismantled quickly; the Mamertine prison; fortification of the Janiculum; and the founding of Ostia at the river mouth with salt works, which gave Rome access to the sea and a commodity to trade. The gens Marcia claimed descent from him, which is one reason the tradition is generous. Tradition also credits him with extending Rome's territory to the sea. He is said to have reigned twenty-four years and to have died a natural death, which the sources treat as unremarkable enough to pass over quickly.
- Lived: 675 BCE – 617 BCE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: king, builder, lawgiver
