Lars Tolumnius

[1] Tolumius enters history when the Roman colony of Fidenae revolted against the Republic in 438 BC, and allied itself with Veii, giving Tolumnius control of the Fidenate army.

The Romans sent four envoys (Tullus Cloelius, Gaius Fulcinius, Spurius Antius, and Lucius Roscius) to Fidenae to demand an explanation, but they were murdered by the Fidenates, apparently on the king's orders.

[2][3] A popular story held that Tolumnius had not intended this breach of decorum: supposedly he was playing at dice when the Fidenates asked whether they should kill the ambassadors, and having just rolled fortuitously, the king exclaimed, "excellent!

Sergius won the day despite brutal fighting, and earned the surname Fidenas, but the Roman losses were so high that a state of emergency was declared, and the Senate appointed Mamercus Aemilius Mamercinus dictator to meet the threat posed by Tolumnius' forces.

[5][6] In recognition of his victory, the dictator Mamercus was granted a triumph, although the most famous hero of the battle was Cossus, who claimed the spolia opima, stripping the arms and armor from the fallen king, and dedicating them at the temple of Jupiter Feretrius.