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Marcus Atilius Regulus () was a
Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
statesman and general who was a
consul Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states thro ...
of the
Roman Republic The Roman Republic ( ) was the era of Ancient Rome, classical Roman civilisation beginning with Overthrow of the Roman monarchy, the overthrow of the Roman Kingdom (traditionally dated to 509 BC) and ending in 27 BC with the establis ...
in 267 BC and 256 BC. Much of his career was spent fighting the Carthaginians during the
first Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...
. In 256 BC, he and
Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus was a Roman general and statesman, who served as consul of the Roman Republic in 256 and 250 BC. He is remembered for his military successes; his military achievements, especially the Battle of Cape Ecnomus, which sig ...
defeated the Carthaginians at the naval battle off Cape Ecnomus; afterwards he led the Roman expedition to Africa but was defeated at the
Bagradas River The Medjerda River (), the classical Bagradas, is a river in North Africa flowing from northeast Algeria through Tunisia before emptying into the Gulf of Tunis and Lake of Tunis. With a length of , it is the longest river of Tunisia. It is also ...
in spring of 255 BC. He was captured and then probably died of natural causes, with the story of his death later being much embellished.


Life

Regulus was first consul in 267 BC. He campaigned with his co-consul (
Lucius Julius Libo Lucius Julius Libo ( 267–266 BC) was a Roman senator and military commander. He was consul in 267 BC, together with Marcus Atilius Regulus. During their term of office, the two men carried on a successful war against the Sallentini, a Messapian ...
) against the
Sallentini The Messapians were an Iapygian tribe who inhabited Salento in classical antiquity. Two other Iapygian tribes, the Peucetians and the Daunians, inhabited central and northern Apulia respectively. All three tribes spoke the Messapian language, ...
, captured
Brundisium Brindisi ( ; ) is a city in the region of Apulia in southern Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. Historically, the city has played an essential role in trade and culture due to its strategic positio ...
, and thence celebrated a double triumph. During the
First Punic War The First Punic War (264–241 BC) was the first of three wars fought between Rome and Carthage, the two main powers of the western Mediterranean in the early 3rd century BC. For 23 years, in the longest continuous conflict and grea ...
, he was elected suffect consul in 256 BC, in place of Quintus Caedicius, who had died in office. With his colleague,
Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus was a Roman general and statesman, who served as consul of the Roman Republic in 256 and 250 BC. He is remembered for his military successes; his military achievements, especially the Battle of Cape Ecnomus, which sig ...
, he fought and defeated a large Carthaginian fleet off the coast of Sicily – the
Battle of Cape Ecnomus The Battle of Cape Ecnomus or Eknomos () was a naval battle, fought off southern Sicily, in 256 BC, between the fleets of Carthage (state), Carthage and the Roman Republic, during the First Punic War (264–241 BC). The Carthaginian fleet was c ...
– and the two then invaded North Africa, landing at
Aspis An ''aspis'' (; : aspides, ) or ''porpax'' shield was the heavy wooden shield used by the infantry in various periods of ancient Greece. Construction An ''aspis'' was deeply dished and made primarily of wood. Some had a thin sheet of bronze ...
on the eastern side of the
Cape Bon Cape Bon ("Good Cape"), also known as Res et-Teib (), Shrīk Peninsula, or Watan el Kibli, is a peninsula in far northeastern Tunisia. Cape Bon is also the name of the northernmost point on the peninsula, also known as Res ed-Der, and known in ant ...
peninsula. After the
Siege of Aspis The siege of Aspis or Clupea was fought in 256 BC between Carthage (state), Carthage and the Roman Republic. It was the first fighting on African land during the First Punic War. Background After defeating the Carthaginian navy sent to stop them ...
, the consuls ravaged the countryside and seized some twenty thousand war captives. Manlius was recalled to Rome and celebrated a naval triumph, while Regulus captured Tunis and entered negotiations with Carthage. While crossing the river Bagradas, his forces supposedly fought an enormous serpent. During the siege of Adys, some 24 kilometres south of Carthage, the Carthaginians attacked over unfavourable hilly ground, triggering the
Battle of Adys The battle of Adys (or Adis) took place in late 256 BC during the First Punic War between a Carthaginian army jointly commanded by Bostar, Hamilcar and Hasdrubal and a Roman army led by Marcus Atilius Regulus. Earlier in the year, the ne ...
, which the Romans won. Wintering in
Tunis Tunis (, ') is the capital city, capital and largest city of Tunisia. The greater metropolitan area of Tunis, often referred to as "Grand Tunis", has about 2,700,000 inhabitants. , it is the third-largest city in the Maghreb region (after Casabl ...
, Regulus engaged in negotiations with the Carthaginians but offered very harsh terms that were rejected; Scullard, in the ''Cambridge Ancient History'', rejects the claims given in Dio that Regulus' terms were so harsh as to "amount to a complete surrender" as "scarcely reliable". Scullard believes that it is more likely that the Romans would have required Carthage to vacate Sicily; the Carthaginians, unwilling to leave the western half of the island, would have refused such a demand. His command was
prorogued A legislative session is the period of time in which a legislature, in both parliamentary and presidential systems, is convened for purpose of lawmaking, usually being one of two or more smaller divisions of the entire time between two elections. ...
into 255 BC. That spring, the Carthaginians, buttressed by the arrival of Spartan mercenaries under
Xanthippus Xanthippus (; , ; 520 – 475 BC) was a wealthy Ancient Athens, Athenian politician and general during the Greco-Persian Wars. He was the son of Ariphron and father of Pericles, both prominent Athenian statesmen. A marriage to Agariste, niece ...
and bristling against Regulus' proposals of harsh terms, fought Regulus at the Battle of the Bagradas River. On a plain, which gave the Carthaginians space to utilise their war elephants and cavalry, Regulus was defeated and captured; only some two thousand Romans escaped the battle and were picked up by the Roman navy before being wrecked by a storm. Regulus died of neglect or starvation in captivity, though his fate "was soon embellished by legend".


Legends of death

According to legend, the Carthaginians sent him back to Rome, under oath to return. He was to negotiate for a prisoner exchange or peace terms, but he opposed any such exchange or terms, so he returned to the Carthaginians to be tortured to death. This legend is, however, "almost certainly invented, perhaps to palliate his son's torturing of two
Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( ) usually refers to the civilisation of ancient Carthage. It may also refer to: * Punic people, the Semitic-speaking people of Carthage * Punic language The Punic language, also called Phoenicio-Punic or Carthaginian, i ...
prisoners in revenge for his death". No evidence of the legend appears in the best source on the period,
Polybius Polybius (; , ; ) was a Greek historian of the middle Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , a universal history documenting the rise of Rome in the Mediterranean in the third and second centuries BC. It covered the period of 264–146 ...
. The first evidence of the legend emerges with fragments of
Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a politician and historian of the Roman Republic. He was consul in 129 BC. Biography Early life Gaius Sempronius Tuditanus was a member of the plebeian gens Sempronia. His father had the same name and was senator ...
's history in 129 BC; in this account, the Carthaginians have him starved to death. The legend also appears in Cicero's ''
De Officiis ''De Officiis'' (''On Duties'', ''On Obligations'', or ''On Moral Responsibilities'') is a 44 BC treatise by Marcus Tullius Cicero divided into three books, in which Cicero expounds his conception of the best way to live, behave, and observe mor ...
'' 3.99-115, where it is used as an ''exemplum'' of honour before practicality. According to
Augustine of Hippo Augustine of Hippo ( , ; ; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430) was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Africa. His writings deeply influenced the development of Western philosop ...
in '' City of God'' (5th century AD), using similar wording as Cicero ''in Pisonem'', the Carthaginians "shut egulusup in a narrow box, in which he was compelled to stand, and in which finely sharpened nails were fixed all round about him, so that he could not lean upon any part of it without intense pain". The myth of Regulus' capture and patriotic defiance later became a favourite tale for Roman children and patriotic story-tellers, developed and polished through the years by Roman historiographers and orators.


Family

The Atilii Reguli were a plebeian family. This Regulus was the brother of the Gaius Atilius Regulus who was consul in 257 and 250 BC. With a wife named Marcia, he had at least one son, also named Marcus, who later became consul in 227 and 217 BC before also being elected censor in 214 BC. Klaus Zmeskal, in ''Adfinitas'', includes no linkage between this Regulus and the homonymous consul of 294 BC.


See also

*
Cato the Elder Marcus Porcius Cato (, ; 234–149 BC), also known as Cato the Censor (), the Elder and the Wise, was a Roman soldier, Roman Senate, senator, and Roman historiography, historian known for his conservatism and opposition to Hellenization. He wa ...
*
Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus () was a Roman patrician, statesman, and military leader of the early Roman Republic who became a famous model of Roman virtue—particularly civic virtue—by the time of the late Republic. Modern historians quest ...
*
Horatii In the Ancient Rome, ancient Roman legend of the Roman Kingdom, regal period, the Horatii were three sibling warriors, sons of Publius Horatius, who lived during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. The accounts of their Champion warfare, epic clash ...
*
Publius Decius Mus The gens Decia was a plebeian family of high antiquity, which became illustrious in Roman history by the example of its members sacrificing themselves for the preservation of their country. The first of the family known to history was Marcus Deciu ...


Notes


References

* * * Cited by . * * * *


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Atilius Regulus, Marcus consul 487 AUC 4th-century BC births 250 BC deaths 3rd-century BC Roman consuls Regulus, Marcus consul 487 AUC Characters in Book VI of the Aeneid Roman Republican admirals Roman commanders of the First Punic War Year of birth uncertain