(or Ocnus) An Etruscan hero, associated with the origin of Bologna. He was the son of Fannus or, in other versions, of the god Tiber, and his mother was Manto, the daughter of Tiresias or in some accounts, of Heracles. Aucnus was a native of Perugia but left the city in order not to overshadow his brother Aulestes who had founded it, crossed the Apennines and was the founder of Felsina, the Etruscan town which was later to be Bologna. His companions founded other cities in the plain of the river Po, including, among others, Mantua.
{E2 DICTIONARY OF CLASSICAL MYTHOLOGY}
Table of Sources:
- Silisu Italicus 5, 7; 6, 109
- Virgil, Aen. 10, 198ff. with Serv. ad loc.
- Serv. on Virgil, Ecl. 9, 60