First Punic War
Atilius was a younger son of the Roman hero Marcus Atilius Regulus, the consul captured during the First Punic War, and grandson of another Marcus Atilius Regulus. His elder brother, Marcus Atilius Regulus, was Roman consul for the year 227 BC, together with Publius Valerius Flaccus, and consul "suffectus" for 217 replacing Gaius Flaminius and later censor. An uncle of the same name was also twice consul during the First Punic War.