person
Marcus Atilius Regulus
Regulus
Marcus Atilius Regulus, consul and general in the First Punic War, exemplar of Roman virtue; while campaigning in Africa he wrote to the Senate that his tiny farm had been abandoned, and it was tended at public expense.
Reading notes
- Consolation to His Mother Helvia §12 Atilius Regulus
Hero of the First Punic War who, routing the Carthaginians in Africa, had so small a farm that the state managed it for him in his absence.
- On Benefits §5.3.2 Regulus
Marcus Atilius Regulus, the consul captured by Carthage in the First Punic War who (by the legend) kept faith and returned to torture and death; 'captured, not conquered.'
- On Tranquility of Mind §16.4 Regulus
Marcus Atilius Regulus, the Roman consul who (in the tradition) returned to Carthage to be tortured to death rather than break his word.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius §7.67.7 cask of Regulus
Marcus Atilius Regulus, the consul captured by Carthage in the First Punic War; sent to Rome on parole, he urged the Senate to refuse the enemy's terms, then returned to Carthage to be tortured to death --- by tradition shut up in a spiked cask. Seneca's standing model of virtue freely chosen.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius §8.71.17 Regulus
Marcus Atilius Regulus, the consul who returned to Carthaginian captivity and torture to keep his oath; Seneca's standing proof that a good man under torment is not wretched.
- Moral Letters to Lucilius §10.82.24 serpent in Africa
The giant serpent of the river Bagradas that harried the army of M. Atilius Regulus in the First Punic War, impervious to weapons and broken only by siege-engine rocks --- Seneca's image: great terrors need great weapons, not verbal darts.