Aulo Atilio Calatino, populi primarius vir

The tombstone inscription of Aulus Atilius Calatinus, leader of the first punic war, proudly states “Hunc unum plurimae consentiunt gentes populi primarium fuisse virum” and Cicero considered him a very important figure of his time, probably the most representative leader of the first punic war. However, the memory of his preeminence was lost in later historical sources and he simply became one of the many leaders of the first punic war. The article aims to reconstruct his figure and motivate this loss of notoriety.