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Five Roman myths — part II
The contrast between morality tales and nationalistic indoctrination
Last time I invited you to walk with me down memory lane, to my days in elementary school when my teacher, Mrs. Darmond, taught me about five ancient Roman stories that were meant to have an impact on my moral upbringing.
We’ve learned about the Horatii brothers who avoided a long and costly war between Rome and the nearby city of Alba Longa. About Mucius Scaevola putting his hand in the fire to punish it because it had failed to kill the enemy king. And about how Furius Camillus saved Rome from the invading Gauls. Or at least, so the legends go. I now turn to the remaining two stories, which will then lead to a broader discussion of what it all means.
(IV) Honor and sacrifice
The next episode took place during the First (out of three) Punic War that saw Rome and Carthage battling it out for supremacy in the Mediterranean. Our hero is Marcus Atilius Regulus, commander of the Roman legions during the first part of the war. The story is told by Livy (Historiae, XVIII), Horace (Odes, iII.5), Cicero, and Seneca.
Regulus, who was Consul at the time, had co-led with the other Consul, Lucius Manlius Vulso Longus, the Roman navy against its Carthaginian counterpart at Battle of Cape Ecnomus…
