What do you do with a captured soldier?
In 255 BC, fighting the Carthaginians, the Roman consul and general Marcus Atilius Regulus was taken prisoner near Tunis. They sent him back to Rome, having sworn an oath that he would ensure the release of some important Carthaginian prisoners; but if he failed, he himself would return to Carthage. Regulus went back, informed the Senate of his mission, took no part in the discussions or the vote, except saying that the prisoners were fine, active young officers, while he was bowed with age. The Senate decided not to return them, and Regulus made his way back to Carthage, well aware of the consequences.
Cicero reported the story – true or not – in his work On Duties and argued that Regulus had been right to return to Carthage: one should not choose moral wrong in any circumstances. An oath was a covenant made with justice and good faith: it was backed by religious sanctity, a solemn promise given before the gods. The war was a legitimate one against a declared enemy. In those circumstances an oath was as binding as a treaty. Rome’s Twelve Tables featured sacred laws in which good faith was pledged even to the enemy, and there were no cases in which Romans used to render stricter decisions than the violation of an oath. Besides, Regulus himself believed in the sanctity of oaths. That was why he thought it morally right to return to Carthage and pay the terrible price.
Finally, said Cicero, consider the battle of Cannae (216 BC), at which the Romans had lost 70,000 soldiers. Hannibal took prisoner 8,000 Romans who had been left in camp. The Senate voted not to ransom them: soldiers had to learn that they must conquer or die. Hannibal was totally demoralised by this display of unshakeable values in the face of disaster.
The details of the unspeakable torture to which Regulus was subjected, which will not be printed here, would have thrilled the IRGC. One rather fears that their joy would have been shared by many, including politicians, who march with other screaming anti-Semites along our streets. Thanks to the Americans’ rescue mission, their pleasures must await another day.
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