Editing Julia gens (section)

==Origin==
[[File:Augustus Lugdunum principes iuventutis 671253.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|[[Denarius]] issued under Augustus from the mint at [[Lugdunum]] ([[Lyon]], France), showing [[Gaius Caesar|Gaius]] and [[Lucius Caesar]] standing facing on the reverse (''circa'' 2 BC&nbsp;– AD 14)]]

According to Roman tradition, the Julii were among the [[Alba Longa|Alban]] families brought to Rome when their city was destroyed by [[Tullus Hostilius]], the third [[King of Rome|Roman king]], who enrolled them among the patricians and accorded them seats in the [[Roman Senate]].<ref>Dionysius, ''Roman Antiquities'', iii. 29; Tacitus, ''Annales'', xi. 24; Livy, ''History of Rome'', i. 30 (but some scholars amend ''Julios'' in this passage of Livy to ''[[Tullia gens|Tullios]]''; see Smith, "Julia Gens"; the Loeb edition has the Julii, but de Sélincourt gives the Tullii).</ref><ref name="General"/><ref>Cornell, ''The Beginnings of Rome'', p. 245; Grant, ''Roman Myths'', p. 96.</ref>  [[Diodorus Siculus]] reported that the Julii had held the position of ''[[Rex Sacrorum]]'' at Alba Longa, the result of a compromise with the Silvii, who held the kingship.  Some scholars have pointed to this as evidence of dual kingship in the earliest period of various cities of [[Latium]], including Rome and [[Lanuvium]], which also had the post of ''Rex Sacrorum''.<ref>Diodorus, ''apud'' Eusebius, ''Chronicle'' (Armenian version), Karst, ed., p. 138.</ref><ref>Cornell, ''The Beginnings of Rome'', p. 236.</ref>

A seemingly contradictory tradition places the Julii at Rome even earlier, following the death of [[Romulus]].  A certain Proculus Julius is reported to have witnessed Romulus descending from the heavens, bidding the Romans not weep for his loss, but to take up his worship as the god [[Quirinus]].<ref name="Proculus Julius">Livy, ''History of Rome'', i. 16; Dionysius, ''Roman Antiquities'', ii. 63; Plutarch, "The Life of Romulus", 28; Cicero, ''De Republica'', ii. 20, ''De Legibus'', i. 3; Ovid ''Fasti'', ii. 499–512.</ref><ref>Smith, "Julia Gens"; Münzer, "Julius", and No. 33 (Proculus Julius, cols. 112, 113).</ref><ref>Grant, ''Roman Myths'', pp. 115, 116.</ref>  However, as this story concerns a miraculous event, and might have been influenced by the fame of the Julii in later times, it cannot be regarded as evidence of the period that the family first settled at Rome.<ref>Smith, "Julia Gens".</ref>

The Julii were also connected to [[Bovillae]] from an early period, some of them possibly having settled there after the fall of Alba Longa.  An altar inscription in the theatre of Bovillae, dating from around the beginning of the first century BC, speaks of the Julii carrying out sacrifices according to the Alban rites.  In [[Roman Empire|imperial times]] the emperor [[Tiberius]] dedicated a {{lang|la|[[Glossary of ancient Roman religion#sacrarium|sacrarium]]}}, or chapel, to the Julii at Bovillae, alongside a statue of Augustus.<ref>Dionysius, ''Roman Antiquities'', iii. 29; Tacitus, ''Annales'', ii. 41.</ref><ref>Niebuhr, ''History of Rome'', vol. i. note 1240, vol. ii. note 421; Smith, "Julia Gens"; Münzer, "Iulius".</ref>

In the later Republic, it was fashionable for aristocratic families to claim descent from the gods and heroes of [[Classical mythology|Greek and Roman myth]].  The Julii claimed descent from Iulus, said to be the same person as [[Ascanius]], the son of [[Aeneas]], and founder of Alba Longa.  In [[Greek mythology|Greek myth]], Aeneas was the son of [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]] and the [[Troy|Trojan]] prince [[Anchises]].<ref name="General"/><ref>Cornell, ''The Beginnings of Rome'', p. 58; Grant, ''Roman Myth'', pp. 66, 94.</ref>  The traditions upon which these claims were based were not always clear; the historian [[Livy]] was unsure whether to regard Iulus and Ascanius as the same person, or perhaps two brothers—one the son of [[Creusa (wife of Aeneas)|Creüsa]], Aeneas' first wife, lost in the sack of Troy—and the other the son of [[Lavinia]], the daughter of [[Latinus]], whom Aeneas married after landing in Italy.<ref>Livy, ''History of Rome'', i. 3.</ref>  The late Roman [[philologist|grammarian]] [[Servius the Grammarian|Servius]] went to some effort to prove the identity of Ascanius and Iulus through etymology.<ref>Servius, ''Ad Virgilii Aeneidem Commentarii'', i. 267.</ref><ref name="General"/>

The importance attached to their mythic ancestry may have served a further purpose: after their initial prominence under the early Republic, the Julii sank into obscurity, and they are hardly mentioned for a century and a half beginning in the mid-fourth century BC.  When at last they emerged and once again began to assume positions of importance, emphasizing their ostensible connections with Rome's foundation myths might have helped to restore their prestige.<ref name="Münzer Iulius">Münzer, "Iulius".</ref>  As he rose to prominence in the Roman state, [[Caesar]] regularly alluded to these myths, notably doing so when speaking at the funeral of his aunt [[Julia (wife of Marius)|Julia]], and using ''Venus Genetrix'' as the watchword for his soldiers at [[Battle of Pharsalus|Pharsalus]] and [[Battle of Munda|Munda]].  Coins of the Julii bear the likeness of Venus, and Roman writers willingly readily furthered a myth that served to glorify the emperors.<ref>Suetonius, "The Life of Caesar", 6.</ref><ref name="General"/><ref>Grant, ''Roman Myth'', pp. 66.</ref>