Attilus Regulus
- Date
- 1535
- Material
- Engraving
- Classification
- Prints
- Collection
- Prints, Drawings, and Photographs
- Current Location
- Not on view
- Dimensions
- plate: 4 9/16 x 2 15/16 in. (11.6 x 7.4 cm)
sheet: 4 11/16 x 3 1/16 in. (11.9 x 7.7 cm) - Credit Line
- Gift of Milton I. D. Einstein
- Rights
- Public Domain
- Object Number
- 270:1958
NOTES
The gruesome torture of a Roman general from the first Punic Wars is depicted in this print, but its real subject is Attilus Regulus as an exemplar of patriotic honor. Captured by the Carthiginians, Regulus was sent back to Rome to negotiate an uneven exchange of prisoners. He convinced the Romans not to accept the terms rigged against them, but still returned as promised to Carthage to face the enemy. There he was executed in a “machine” lined with nails (here depicted as a barrel).
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