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Saturday, April 27, 2013

ATTILIO REGOLO -- Roma antica nel melodramma italiano -- METASTASIO -- CIMAROSA --

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Marcus Atilius Regulus
Lens, Cornelis - Regulus Returning to Carthage - 1791.jpg
Regulus returning to Carthage by Cornelis Cels, 1791.
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office
267 BC – 267 BC
Preceded byPublius Sempronius Sophus and Appius Claudius Russus
Succeeded byDecimus Iunius Pera and Numerius Fabius Pictor
Consul of the Roman Republic
In office
256 BC – 256 BC
Preceded byLucius Manlius Vulso Longus and Quintus Caedicius
Succeeded byMarcus Aemilius Paullus and Servius Fulvius Paetinus Nobilior
Personal details
BornBefore 307 BC
Roman Republic
Died250 BC
Carthage
ReligionAncient Roman religion
Military service
AllegianceRoman Military banner.svg Roman Republic
RankGeneral
Battles/warsFirst Punic War
Battle of Cape Ecnomus
Siege of Aspis
Battle of Adys
Battle of Tunis


Marcus Atilius Regulus (born probably before 307 BC - 250 BC) was a Roman statesman and general who was consul of the Roman Republic in 267 BC and 256 BC.


Regulus first became consul in 267 BC, where fought the Messapians. Elected consul again in 256 BC, he served as a general in the First Punic War (256 BC), where he defeated the Carthaginians in a naval battle at Cape Ecnomus near Sicily and invaded North Africa, winning victories at Aspis and Adys, until he was defeated and captured at Tunis in 255 BC. After he was released on parole to negotiate a peace, he is supposed to have urged the Roman Senate to refuse the proposals and then, over the protests of his own people, to have fulfilled the terms of his parole by returning to Carthage, where he according to Roman tradition was tortured to death. He was posthumously seen by the Romans as a model of civic virtue.[1]

 

 

Regulus defeated the Salentini (See also Messapia) and captured Brundisium (now Brindisi) during his first term as consul in 267 BC.

He was one of the commanders in the Roman naval expedition that shattered the Carthaginian fleet at Cape Ecnomus, and landed an army on Carthaginian territory. The invaders were so successful that the other consul, Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus, was recalled to Rome, leaving Regulus behind to finish the war.

After a severe defeat at Adys near Carthage, the Carthaginians were inclined towards peace, but the terms proposed by Regulus were so harsh that they resolved to continue the war.

The Carthaginians replaced the outmatched general Hamilcar with new leadership and in 255 BC,

Regulus was completely defeated at the Battle of Tunis.

He was taken prisoner by the Spartan mercenary general Xanthippus along with 500 of his men.

There is no further trustworthy information about him.

 According to tradition, he remained in captivity until 250 BC, when after the defeat of the Carthaginians at the Battle of Panormus he was sent to Rome on parole to negotiate a peace or an exchange of prisoners.

On his arrival, he instead strongly urged the Roman Senate to refuse both proposals and continue fighting, and honoured his parole by returning to Carthage where he was executed (Horace, Odes, iii. 5).

Roman historians after Orazio record the manner of Regulus' death as either involving his being thrown into a dark dungeon and then dragged out and forced to look at the sun once his eyelids had been cut off (Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights, vii. 4) or his being encased in a chest lined with spikes (Augustine, "De Civitate Dei" 1.15, Aurelius Victor, De Viris Illustribus Romae, 40, Tertullian, "To the Martyrs" Chapter 4).[2]

Amongst the depictions of the latter version in art is Regulus in the Spiked Cask by Salvatore Rosa, c. 1651.

The traditional story made of Regulus is
one of the best known examples of honour and patriotism
to later Romans.

Most historians, however, regard this account as insufficiently attested, as Polybius does not mention it.

The tale may have been invented by Roman annalists as propaganda, to incite hatred towards Carthage and justify cruel treatment of the Carthaginian prisoners.

The 18th-century poet Pietro Metastasio
found enough admiration for the courage
 and virtue of Atilius Regulus
to craft the libretto "Attilio Regolo" from his life story.

The original operatic setting, composed in 1750 by Johann Adolf Hasse, was followed by other versions, including Cimarosa's.

A fictionalized short story version of the life of Atilius Regulus called "The Triumph" by Robin Hobb appeared in the anthology Warriors, edited by George R.R. Martin.

He is also the hero of a major historical novel "Křik neviditelných pávů" (The scream of invisible peacocks) by the Czech writer Jarmila Loukotková from 1997.

[edit] Family

Atilius Regulus, the son of the eponymous consul of 294 BC, descended from an ancient Calabrian family. According to later Roman historians he married one Marcia, who tortured several Carthaginian prisoners to death on hearing of her husband's death. He had at least two sons and one daughter by Livy's account; both sons became consuls - Marcus in 227 BC and Gaius in 225 BC (killed in battle against the Gauls).
A brother or cousin, Gaius Atilius Regulus, served as consul in 257 BC and in 250 BC.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b "Marcus Atilius Regulus". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Retrieved 8 September 2012. 
  2. ^ See Smith, William (ed). Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography (Boston, 1859) 3.643-44 for a list of ancient sources about Regulus and his death.

[edit] References

Preceded by
Publius Sempronius Sophus and Appius Claudius Russus
Consul of the Roman Republic
with Lucius Julius Libo
267 BC
Succeeded by
Decimus Iunius Pera and Numerius Fabius Pictor
Preceded by
Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus and Quintus Caedicius
Consul (Suffect) of the Roman Republic
with Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus
256 BC
Succeeded by
Marcus Aemilius Paullus and Servius Fulvius Paetinus Nobilior


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