Marcus Atilius Regulus

Biography

Marcus Atilius Regulus was the hero — or victim — of one of Rome's most celebrated moral legends. As consul in 256 BC, he commanded the Roman army that invaded Africa, coming within a campaign season of destroying Carthage. Then the Spartan mercenary general Xanthippus reorganised the Carthaginian army and destroyed Regulus's forces at the Battle of Tunis in 255 BC. Regulus was captured — the first Roman consul ever taken prisoner by a foreign enemy. The legend relates that Regulus was later released on parole to carry Carthaginian peace terms to Rome, promising to return to captivity if the negotiations failed. At Rome, he advised the Senate to reject Carthage's terms as insufficiently favourable, then — honour demanding it — returned voluntarily to Carthage and death, rather than break his word. He was allegedly executed by torture, perhaps by being enclosed in a barrel studded with nails. The story may be largely legend; the torture accounts are probably propaganda. But the moral archetype of a Roman gentleman choosing death rather than dishonour became one of Rome's defining self-images — Horace celebrated Regulus in his Odes as the embodiment of Roman virtue, and his story was used for centuries to illustrate the Roman concept of fides (faithfulness to one's word) that was supposed to underpin both private honor and public life.

Key Battles