Sicily and the Other Islands

BOTH Romans and Carthaginians were destitute of money; and the Romans could no longer build ships, being exhausted by taxes, yet they levied foot soldiers and sent them to Africa and Sicily from year to year, while the Carthaginians sent an embassy to Ptolemy, the son of Ptolemy the son of Lagus, king of Egypt, seeking to borrow 2000 talents. He was on terms of friendship with both Romans and Carthaginians, and he sought to bring about peace between them. As he was not able to accomplish this, he said: “It behooves one to assist friends against enemies, but not against friends.”

When the Carthaginians had met with two disasters on land at the same time, and two at sea where they had considered themselves much the superior, and were already short of money, ships, and men, they sought an armistice from Lutatius and having obtained it sent an embassy to Rome to negotiate a treaty on certain limited conditions. With their own embassy they sent Atilius Regulus, the consul, who was their prisoner, to urge his countrymen to agree to the terms. When he came into the senate-chamber, clad as a prisoner in Punic garments, and the Carthaginian ambassadors had retired, he exposed to the Senate the desperate state of Carthaginian affairs, and advised that either the war should be prosecuted vigorously, or that more satisfactory conditions of peace should be insisted on. For this reason, after he had returned voluntarily to Carthage, the Carthaginians put him to death by enclosing him in a standing posture in a box the planks of which were stuck full of iron spikes so that he could not possibly lie down. Nevertheless peace was made on conditions more satisfactory to the Romans.