Battle of Lake Regillus

Battle of Lake Regillus
Part of the Roman-Latin wars

Castor and Pollux fighting at the Battle of Lake Regillus, 1880 illustration by John Reinhard Weguelin to the Lays of Ancient Rome by Thomas Macaulay
Datec. 496 BC
Location
near Frascati (Rome)
Result
  • Roman victory
  • End of Tarquinian attempts to retake the Roman throne
Belligerents
Roman Republic Latin League
Commanders and leaders
Aulus Postumius Albus
Titus Aebutius Helva (master of the horse)
Octavius Mamilius 
Tarquinius Superbus
Strength

Total: 24,700[1]


  • 23,700 infantry
  • 1,000 cavalry

Total: 43,000[1]


  • 40,000 infantry
  • 3,000 cavalry
An engraving of Lake Regillus, where the battle took place.
Prataporci site, where the battle took place, view from Monte Porzio Catone

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 seventh and last King of Rome, who had been expelled in 509 BC, and his son-in-law, Octavius Mamilius, the dictator of Tusculum. The battle marked the final attempt of the Tarquins to reclaim their throne. According to legend, Castor and Pollux fought on the side of the Romans.[2]

  1. ^ a b Dionysius, vi. 5.
  2. ^ Grant, The History of Rome, p. 37.