Regillum or Inregillum was a town in ancient

Sabinum Sabina (Latin: ''Sabinum''), also called the Sabine Hills, is a region in central Italy. It is named after Sabina, the territory of the ancient Sabines, which was once bordered by Latium to the south, Picenum to the east, ancient Umbria to ...

, north of Rome, known chiefly as the original home of

Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis or Inregillensis (fl. 505 – 480 BC) was the legendary founder of the Roman gens Claudia, and consul in 495 BC. He was the leading figure of the aristocratic party in the early Roman Republic. Background and ...

.''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'', vol. I, p. 765–767. According to tradition, during the early years of the

Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...

, the

Sabines The Sabines (; lat, Sabini; it, Sabini, all exonyms) were an Italic people who lived in the central Apennine Mountains of the ancient Italian Peninsula, also inhabiting Latium north of the Anio before the founding of Rome. The Sabines divid ...

were debating whether to declare war against Rome. One of the leading members of the faction urging peace was Attius Clausus, a wealthy merchant of Regillum. In 504 BC, as the majority of the Sabines seemed ready to vote for war, Clausus and his retainers migrated to Rome, where they were warmly received. Clausus, who took the Latin name "Appius Claudius", was admitted to the patriciate, and given a seat in the

Roman Senate The Roman Senate ( la, Senātus Rōmānus) was a governing and advisory assembly in ancient Rome. It was one of the most enduring institutions in Roman history, being established in the first days of the city of Rome (traditionally founded in ...

. His followers, numbering some five hundred men capable of bearing arms, were granted land north of the

Anio The Aniene (; la, Aniō), formerly known as the Teverone, is a river in Lazio, Italy. It originates in the Apennines at Trevi nel Lazio and flows westward past Subiaco, Vicovaro, and Tivoli to join the Tiber in northern Rome. It formed the pri ...

, where they later formed the basis of the '' tribus Claudia''. For centuries, Claudius' descendants were among the most powerful and influential of all Roman families. The precise location of Regillum is not known, but it must have been in the neighborhood of Lake Regillensis, which was presumably named after it. The

Battle of Lake Regillus The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary Roman victory over the Latin League shortly after the establishment of the Roman Republic and as part of a wider Latin War. The Latins were led by an elderly Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seve ...

was one of the most important events in the early Republic, as a Roman army under the command of the dictator Aulus Postumius Albus defeated an alliance of Latin towns, led by

Octavius Mamilius Octavius Mamilius (died 498/496 BC) was ''princeps'' ("leader, prince") of Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium. He was the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome. According to tradition, the '' gens Mamilia'' ...

, the dictator of

Tusculum Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ( ...

, which aimed to restore

Lucius Tarquinius Priscus Lucius Tarquinius Priscus, or Tarquin the Elder, was the legendary fifth king of Rome and first of its Etruscan dynasty. He reigned for thirty-eight years.Livy, ''ab urbe condita libri'', I Tarquinius expanded Roman power through military conqu ...

, the seventh and last

King of Rome The king of Rome ( la, rex Romae) was the ruler of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 ...

, to the throne. Postumius obtained the surname ''Regillensis'' as a result of his victory; Claudius presumably received it as a native of the town, although it is possible that he also participated in the battle. Many years later, Claudius' son, Gaius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis, who had been consul in 460 BC, is said to have retired to Regillum after failing to dissuade his nephew, Appius, the

decemvir The decemviri or decemvirs (Latin for "ten men") were some of the several 10-man commissions established by the Roman Republic. The most important were those of the two Decemvirates, formally the " decemvirate with consular power for writing ...

, from abusing the power of the Roman state; but he returned to defend Appius when the latter was impeached, and afterward remained at Rome.Dionysius, xi. 7–11.

References

Bibliography

* Titus Livius (

Livy Titus Livius (; 59 BC – AD 17), known in English as Livy ( ), was a Ancient Rome, Roman historian. He wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people, titled , covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome before the traditiona ...

), ''

Ab Urbe Condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

'' (History of Rome). *

Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus (), commonly referred to as Suetonius ( ; c. AD 69 – after AD 122), was a Roman historian who wrote during the early Imperial era of the Roman Empire. His most important surviving work is a set of biographies ...

, ''

De Vita Caesarum ''De vita Caesarum'' (Latin; "About the Life of the Caesars"), commonly known as ''The Twelve Caesars'', is a set of twelve biographies of Julius Caesar and the first 11 emperors of the Roman Empire written by Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus. The g ...

'' (Lives of the Caesars, or The Twelve Caesars). *

Dionysius of Halicarnassus Dionysius of Halicarnassus ( grc, Διονύσιος Ἀλεξάνδρου Ἁλικαρνασσεύς, ; – after 7 BC) was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Emperor Augustus. His literary sty ...

, ''Romaike Archaiologia''.
"Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis" (no. 1)
in the ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

'', William Smith, ed., Little, Brown and Company, Boston (1849). {{coord missing, Italy Roman towns and cities in Italy