Tiberinus Silvius

Who is Tiberinus Silvius?

Tiberinus was the ninth king of Alba Longa, according to the traditional history of Rome handed down by Titus Livius. He was the successor of Capetus, the eighth king of Alba Longa. The Alban kings claimed descent from Aeneas, a Trojan prince who brought a remnant of the Trojan populace to Italy following the sack of Troy, and settled in Latium. Alba was built by Ascanius, the son of Aeneas and Lavinia, and founder of the Alban royal line. The Alban kings, including Tiberinus, bore the cognomen Silvius, after the son of Ascanius, who was said to have been born in the woods.

The only tradition specifically attached to Tiberinus is that he was drowned while crossing the river then known as the Albula, but which was ever after known to the Latins as the Tiber. This ancient river formed the boundary of Latium and Etruria, and the city of Rome was later founded on a group of seven hills overlooking its banks. After his death, Tiberinus was revered as the god of the river. In the earliest days of Rome, the cult of Tiberinus survived at the Volturnia, the archaic festival of Volturnus, but no details are known.

Tiberinus was succeeded by Agrippa, the tenth king of Alba Longa, and probably his son. Amongst their descendants were Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome.