 | The Inflexible Captive |  |
THE ARGUMENT.
Amongst all the great names, which have done honor to antiquity in general, and to the Roman Republic in particular, that of Marcus Attilius Regulus has, by the general consent of all ages, been considered as one of the most respectable, since he not only sacrificed his labours, his liberty, and his life for the good of his country, but by a greatness of soul, almost peculiar to himself, contrived to make his very misfortunes contribute to that glorious end.
After the Romans had met with various successes in the first Punic War, under the command of Regulus; victory at length declared for the opposite party, the Roman Army was totally overthrown, and Regulus himself taken prisoner, by Xantippus, a Lacedæmonian General in the service of the Carthaginians: the victorious enemy exulting in so important a conquest, kept him many years in close imprisonment, and loaded him with the most cruel Indignities. They thought it was now in their power to make their own terms with Rome and determined to send Regulus thither, with their Ambassador, to negotiate a peace, or at least, an exchange of captives, thinking he would gladly persuade his countrymen to discontinue a war, which necessarily prolonged his captivity. They previously exacted from him an oath to return should his embassy prove unsuccessful; at the same time giving him to understand, that he must expect to suffer a cruel death if he failed in it; this they artfully intimated as the strongest motive for him to leave no means unattempted to accomplish their purpose.
At the unexpected arrival of this venerable hero, the Romans
express'd the wildest transports of joy, and would have submitted
to almost any conditions to procure his enlargement; but, Regulus
He at last extorted from them their consent; and departed amidst the tears of his family, the importunities of his friends, the applauses of the Senate, and the tumultuous opposition of the people; and as a great poet of his own nation beautifully observes, “he embarked for Carthage as calm and unconcerned, as if, on finishing the tedious law-suits of his clients, he was retiring to Venafrian fields, or the sweet country of Tarentum.
In the above, and many other important particulars, the Author has paid the strictest regard to historical truth: In some less essential points, where she thought it would rather obstruct than advance her purpose, she has ventured to deviate from it; particularly, in fixing the return of Regulus to Rome, posterior to the death of his wife Martia. In this, as well as in the general conduct of the story, she has followed the Italian poet Metastasio, in his Opera on this subject.
| The Inflexible Captive | |