Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis
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Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was an ancient Roman who, according to Livy
Livy
Titus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...

, was dictator
Dictator
A dictator is a ruler who assumes sole and absolute power but without hereditary ascension such as an absolute monarch. When other states call the head of state of a particular state a dictator, that state is called a dictatorship...

 in 498 BC
498 BC
Year 498 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Siculus and Flavus...

, when he conquered the Latins in the great Battle of Lake Regillus
Battle of Lake Regillus
The Battle of Lake Regillus was a legendary early Roman victory, won over the Latin League led by the expelled Etruscan former king of Rome. It is usually said to have occurred in 498 BC, but other dates have been proposed, including 499 BC, 496 BC and 493 BC.The battle may be entirely legendary,...

. Many of the coins
COinS
ContextObjects in Spans, commonly abbreviated COinS, is a method to embed bibliographic metadata in the HTML code of web pages. This allows bibliographic software to publish machine-readable bibliographic items and client reference management software to retrieve bibliographic metadata. The...

 of the Albini commemorate this victory of their ancestor, as in the one pictured. Roman folklore related that Castor and Pollux
Castor and Pollux
In Greek and Roman mythology, Castor and Pollux or Polydeuces were twin brothers, together known as the Dioscuri . Their mother was Leda, but Castor was the mortal son of Tyndareus, king of Sparta, and Pollux the divine son of Zeus, who visited Leda in the guise of a swan...

 were seen fighting in this battle on the side of the Romans, whence the dictator afterwards dedicated a temple to Castor and Pollux
Temple of Castor and Pollux
The Temple of Castor and Pollux is an ancient edifice in the Roman Forum, Rome, central Italy. It was originally built in gratitude for victory at the Battle of Lake Regillus . Castor and Pollux were the Dioscuri, the "twins" of Gemini, the twin sons of Zeus and Leda...

 in the Roman Forum
Roman Forum
The Roman Forum is a rectangular forum surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient city referred to this space, originally a marketplace, as the Forum Magnum, or simply the Forum...

.

He was consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...

 in 496 BC, in which year some of the annals, according to Livy, placed the battle of Lake Regillus; and it is to this year that Dionysius
Dionysius of Halicarnassus
Dionysius of Halicarnassus was a Greek historian and teacher of rhetoric, who flourished during the reign of Caesar Augustus. His literary style was Attistic — imitating Classical Attic Greek in its prime.-Life:...

 assigns it. The name "Regillensis" is usually supposed to have been derived from this battle; but Niebuhr
Niebuhr
Niebuhr is a German surname.* Barthold Georg Niebuhr, 19th century German statesman and historian* Carsten Niebuhr, 18th century German traveller, explorer and surveyor, and father of Barthold Georg Niebuhr * Reinhold Niebuhr and H. Richard Niebuhr, brothers and American Christian scholars...

 thinks that it was taken from a place of residence, just as the Claudii
Claudius (gens)
The gens Claudia, sometimes written Clodia, was one of the most prominent patrician houses at Rome. The gens traced its origin to the earliest days of the Roman Republic...

 bore the same name, and that the later annalists only spoke of Postumius as commander in consequence of the name. Livy states expressly, that Scipio Africanus
Scipio Africanus
Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus , also known as Scipio Africanus and Scipio the Elder, was a general in the Second Punic War and statesman of the Roman Republic...

 was the first Roman who obtained a surname from his conquests.

He was, according to some genealogies, the father of Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis
Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis (consul 466 BC)
Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis was a patrician politician of Ancient Rome. He was, apparently, according to the Fasti, the son of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis, although it must be observed that no great dependence can be placed upon genealogies from such early times. He was consul in 466 BC...

 and Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis (consul 464 BC)
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was a patrician politician of ancient Rome, and apparently son of Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis, and therefore brother of Spurius Postumius Albus Regillensis. He was consul in 464 BC, carried on war against the Aequians, and protected the border from raiders...

.
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