Procas

For the genus of beetles, see Procas (beetle).

Procas or Proca (said to have reigned 817-794 BC)^[1] was one of the Latin kings of Alba Longa in the mythic tradition of the founding of Rome. He was the father of Amulius and Numitor and the great-grandfather of Romulus and Remus, Rome's legendary founders.^[2]

The name

Procas Silvius from Nuremberg chronicles

The names of the Alban kings are often related to toponyms around Rome, or to legendary figures in the early history of Rome. The constructed genealogies in which they appear may reflect the desire of status-seeking families in the Late Republic to lay claim to Trojan ancestry. The name Procas or Proca may be related to the mythological figure Prochyte, a kinswoman of Aeneas^[3] who died when the fleet carrying the refugees of Troy to Italy was within sight of the coast. She was buried on the island that bore her name.^[4]

Family tree

v t e Descent of the Kings of Alba Longa
Anchises Venus Latinus Amata Creusa Aeneas Lavinia Iulus Ascanius Silvius Aeneas Silvius Latinus Silvius Alba (Silvius) Atys Capys Capetus Tiberinus Agrippa Romulus Silvius Aventinus Proca Numitor Amulius Rhea Silvia Mars Hersilia Romulus Remus Prima

References

1. Dionysius of Halicarnassus Roman Antiquities 1.71
2. Virgil VI, 767; Livy I, 3, 9.
3. Gary D. Farney, Ethnic Identity and Aristocratic Competition in Republican Rome (Cambridge University Press, 2007), p. 57.
4. Pierre Grimal, The Dictionary of Classical Mythology (Blackwell, 1986, 1996), p. 392.

Legendary titles
Preceded by Aventinus	King of Alba Longa	Succeeded by Numitor