(1) Ille Rōmam cum vēnisset, inductus in senātum nihil quasi Rōmānus ēgit dīxitque sē ex illā diē, quā in potestātem Āfrōrum vēnisset, Rōmānum esse dēsīsse.
(2) Itaque et uxōrem ā complexū remōvit et senātuī suāsit, nē pāx cum Poenīs fieret. Illōs enim frāctōs tot cāsibus spem nūllam habēre; tantī nōn esse, ut tot mīlia captīvōrum propter ūnum sē et senem et paucōs, quī ex Rōmānīs captī fuerant, redderentur. Itaque obtinuit. Nam Āfrōs pācem petentēs nūllus admīsit.
(3) Ipse Carthāginem rediit, offerentibusque Rōmānīs ut eum Rōmae tenērent, negāvit sē in eā urbe mānsūrum, in quā, postquam Āfrīs servierat, dīgnitātem honestī cīvis habēre nōn posset. Regressus igitur ad Āfricam omnibus suppliciīs extīnctus est.
notes
(1) Ille Rōmam cum vēnisset: ille refers to Regulus, and cum here is circumstantial (AG 546).
nihil quasi Rōmānus ēgit: "did not act at all [as a Roman]"; i.e., he acted as if he no longer had the privileges of a Roman citizen. Regulus' larger-than-life behavior was used in Roman literature as an example of extreme dedication to duty.
quā in potestātem Āfrōrum vēnisset: vēnisset is subjunctive in a relative clause within indirect discourse (AG 592.3).
Rōmānum esse dēsīsse: "[he] had ceased to be a Roman," indirect discourse with dīxitque sē (AG 577). dēsīsse: perfect infinitive from < dēsino
(2) nē pāx cum Poenīs fieret: substantive clause of purpose after suāsit ("urged") (AG 563)
Illōs: Poenī; supply dīxit
tantī nōn esse: "that he himself was not so important" (Bird), tantī is genitive of quality (AG 417).
ut tot mīlia captīvōrum propter ūnum sē et senem et paucōs, quī ex Rōmānīs captī fuerant, redderentur: "that so many thousand prisoners should be returned just for him, one old man, and the few Romans who had been captured" (Bird), result clause after tantī (AG 537). mīlia captīvōrum is the subject of the verb redderentur.
obtinuit: "obtain"; a late meaning (Hazzard)
Āfrōs: the Carthaginians
nūllus admīsit: nūllus is used substantively here instead of nēmō, i.e., the Romans refused to admit the ambassadors (Hazzard).
(3) Ipse: Regulus
offerentibusque Rōmānīs ut: "when the Romans offered to" + subj.
Rōmae: locative (AG 427.3).
mānsūrum: supply esse; indirect discourse following negāvit
posset: imperfect subjunctive within indirect discourse (AG 592) indicating that it represents Regulus' thought
Regressus: deponent verb (LS regredior)
omnibus suppliciīs exstīnctus est: The story of Regulus became a national epic, but Polybius does not mention it and it is generally but not universally rejected. Possibly the account of him being tortured to death by the Carthaginians was invented to counter the story that his widow tortured some Carthaginian prisoners at Rome (Bird). In Golden Age Latin, his courage and integrity under the torture he faced as a prisoner of war became an iconic exemplum of Roman virtūs. One of the most famous examples is the found in the poetry of Horace:
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The foreseeing mind of Regulus had been on guard against this,
Disagreeing with the shameful terms of peace,
Taking the disaster as an example for the coming age,
If the captured youth did not perish unlamented:
He said, "I have seen the standards fixed to the Punic temple,
And the arms of the soldiers destroyed without bloodshed.
I have seen the arms of the citizens twisted behind their free backs
And the open gates and cultivated fields razed by our war.
The solder will certainly return keener, having been repaid with gold.
You add damnation to shame!
And as one does not bring back the wool's lost color once it is treated with dye,
Nor does true virtue care to return to a ruined spirit once it has been lost.
Just like deer, once freed from a thick hunting net,
He who trusts himself against the faithless enemies will be strong,
And in a second battle he will crush the Phoenicians,
He who, unmoving, felt the leather straps on his bound arms, feared death.
This one, not knowing from where they have taken up life, has mixed peace with war.
O shame! O great Carthage, made greater by the shameful ruins of Italy."
It is said that, as an unworthy person, Regulus cast aside
The kiss of his chaste wife and his small children,
And he, grim, fixed his strong gaze on the ground,
Until as an advisor he might strengthen the wavering senators with his resolve,
Never having given any other ideas,
And the famous exile hastens among his mourning friends.
Yet though he knew the things which the barbarian torturer would prepare for him,
Nevertheless, in no other way did he move through his relatives standing in his path
And the people delaying his return,
As if he might depart from long businesses of his clients, having been judged in a dispute,
Heading to the fields of Venafrum or Lacedaemonian Tarentum. (Odes, 3.5.13-56, trans. N. Morris, J. Wright, J. Tigani, I. Johnson)
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
| indūcō, ere, dūxī, ductus |
to lead in; induce; put on, cover |
||
| Āfer, Āfrī, m. |
an African, especially an inhabitant of Carthage |
||
| complexus, ūs [complector, to embrace], m. | surrounding, embrace | ||
| suādeō, ēre, suāsī, suāsus | to advise, urge, exhort | ||
| Poenī, ōrum, pl. m. | the Carthaginians | ||
| captīvus, a, um [capiō], adj. |
captive; as subst., captīvus, ī, m., captīva, ae, f., captive, prisoner of war |
||
| obtineō, ēre, uī, tentus |
to hold, possess; rule, govern |
||
| admittō, ere, mīsī, missus |
to permit, admit, give audience to |
||
| Carthāgō, inis, f. |
(1) Carthage, a city founded by the Phoenicians on the northern coast of Africa; destroyed by the Romans 146 BC; (2) Carthāgō Nova, a city founded by the Carthaginians on the eastern coast of Spain |
||
| regredior, gredī, gressus sum |
to step back, retreat, return |
||
| Āfrica, ae, f. |
Africa; often the northern part of the continent, especially the part near Carthage |
||
| exstinguō, ere, stīnxī, stīnctus [ex + stinguō, to extinguish] |
to quench, kill, blot out, destroy, extinguish, put an end to |