[Linenotes: 1. +consul.+ Regulus was Consul 261 and 256 B.C., and Proconsul in Africa 255 B.C., when he was defeated and taken prisoner by Xanthippus. 6. +speciem+ = the _specious (plausible) appearance (semblance)_. 12, 13. +sententiam ... recusavit+ = _declined to give his own opinion on the case_. 13. +iure iurando+ (sc. _dato_) = _by the oath sworn to his enemies_. 17. ‘+At stulte+’ (sc. _fecit_) = ‘_But, it may he said, he acted like a fool._’ 19. +etiamne+ (sc. _stulte fecit_) = _What, how did he act like a fool, if_ ...--Holden.] 20, 21. +potest autem ... utile esse.+ Cf. Ὅ τῇ πόλει οὐκ ἔστι βλαβερὸν οὐδὲ τὸν πολίτην βλάπτει = that which is not harmful (βλαβερόν = +inutile+) to the State is not harmful to the citizen.]
+Parallel Passages.+ Polybius, i. 31-36 (he makes no mention of the embassy of Regulus); Pliny, _Ep._ vii. 2 (interesting letter on the death of Regulus); and espec. Hor. _Od._ III. v. 13-end.
‘With counsel thus, ne’er else aread [_advised_], He nerved the Fathers’ weak intent, And, girt by friends that mourn’d him, sped Into illustrious banishment.’ --C.
A. _First Roman Naval Victory near Mylae, 260 B.C._
C. Duilius, primo Punico bello a Romanis dux contra Carthaginienses missus, cum videret eos multum mari valere, classem magis validam quam decoram aedificavit, et manus ferreas, quas corvos vocabant, instituit. His, quas ante pugnam hostes { 5} valde deriserant, in pugna ipsa ad Liparas insulas commissa naves hostium comprehendit, easque partim cepit, partim demersit. Dux classis Punicae Carthaginem fugit, et ex senatu quaesivit quid faceret. Omnibus ut pugnaret succlamantibus: { 10} ‘Feci,’ inquit, ‘et victus sum.’ Sic poenam crucis effugit, nam hac poena dux, re male gesta, apud Poenos afficiebatur. Duilius autem victor primum triumphum maritimum Romae egit, et ad memoriam victoriae columna rostrata in foro posita est. { 15}
[Linenotes: 4. +corvos+ = _crows_ (the κόρακες of Polybius), boarding-bridges. A broad movable ladder, fastened to the foremast, and held in position by a rope. When the rope was let go, the iron hook at the upper end of the ladder penetrated the deck of an enemy’s ship. 6. +ad Liparas insulas+ = Aeoliae Insulae (Lipari Islands), N.E. of Sicily. Mylae was on a promontory S.E. of these Islands. 8. +Dux+, i.e. Hannibal, the defender of Agrigentum 262 B.C.]