The Atilii Reguli

A plebeian consular dynasty across five generations (c. 335–213 BC) · DPRR relationship data

Family Tree

DPRR Relationship Data

All relationships recorded for the Regulus branch of the gens Atilia in the DPRR database.

The Reguli: Filiations & Offices

Recorded Relationships

Commentary

C. Atilius (RE 48) M.f. M.n. Regulus held the consulship in 225 BC and was killed at the Battle of Telamon fighting the Cisalpine Gauls (Polybius 2.28–31). His death in office and the filiation preserved in the Fasti Capitolini make him a valuable anchor for reconstructing the Regulus branch of the gens Atilia.

The DPRR records seven Atilii Reguli across five generations. The dynasty begins with M. Atilius (49) Regulus Calenus (cos. 335 BC), whose son M. Atilius (50) M.f. M.n. Regulus reached the consulship in 294 BC. In the third generation, two brothers are recorded: M. Atilius (51) M.f. L.n. Regulus (cos. 267, cos. suff. 256 BC) — the famous commander captured in Africa during the First Punic War — and C. Atilius (47) M.f. M.n. Regulus (cos. 257, 250 BC). Note the discrepant filiations: RE 51 is recorded as M.f. L.n. (grandson of Lucius) while RE 47 is M.f. M.n. (grandson of Marcus). DPRR records them as brothers despite this difference, following Broughton’s MRR.

DPRR records M. Atilius (51) as the father of M. Atilius (52) M.f. M.n. Regulus (cos. 227, cos. suff. 217, cens. 214 BC), who died at Cannae in 216 BC. No parent is explicitly recorded in DPRR for our subject, C. Atilius (48, cos. 225), but his identical filiation to RE 52 (both M.f. M.n.) and near-identical birth dates (both estimated c. 263 BC) strongly suggest they were brothers, sons of the consul of 267/256. C. Atilius (48) in turn fathered two sons: M. Atilius (53) Regulus (pr. 213 BC) and C. Atilius (11) (pr. c. 218 BC), recorded as brothers in DPRR.

After 213 BC, no Atilius Regulus holds a recorded magistracy in DPRR. The branch disappears entirely. However, the broader gens Atilia continued through the Serranus branch, which produced consuls in 170 BC (A. Atilius Serranus), 136 BC (Sex. Atilius Serranus), and 106 BC (C. Atilius Serranus) — a reminder that the decline of one cognominal branch did not necessarily extinguish the gens.

Sources

• Broughton, T. R. S. The Magistrates of the Roman Republic. 3 vols. American Philological Association, 1951–1986. — Office-holding dates, filiations, and prosopographic identifications for all Atilii Reguli.
• Zmeskal, K. Adfinitas: Die Verwandtschaften der senatorischen Führungsschicht der römischen Republik von 218–31 v. Chr. 2 vols. Stutz, 2009. — Marriage connection (M. Atilius 51 ↔ Marcia 112).
• Münzer, F. Paulys Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft s.v. “Atilius” nos. 47–53. — RE numbers used throughout.
• DPRR Team. Digital Prosopography of the Roman Republic. King’s Digital Lab, King’s College London, 2017. AHRC grant AH/K007211/1. — Relationship assertions and structured data.

All data queried from the DPRR RDF store via the dprr-mcp server. The DPRR covers 509–31 BC and draws from specific secondary sources; additional family connections may exist in the literary or epigraphic record that are not captured here. None of the assertions above are flagged as uncertain in the database.