Summary of Book XVII
THE consul Gnaeus Cornelius was surrounded by a
Carthaginian fleet and was made prisoner by fraud,
having been lured out as to a colloquy. The consul
Gaius Duillius fought a successful engagement with the
fleet of the Carthaginians and was first of all Roman
leaders to triumph for a naval victory. for this reason
he was granted a perpetual honour—that a waxen torch
should be borne before him and a flautist should make
music when he returned from dining out.
1 The consul Lucius Cornelius fought successfully in Sardinia and
Corsica against the Sardinians and Corsicans and against
Hanno, the Carthaginian general. The consul Atilius
Calatinus having rashly led his army into a place surrounded by the Carthaginians, escaped through the valiant
services of Marcus Calpurnius, a tribune of the soldiers,
who with three hundred men broke through the enemy
and drew their attack upon himself. Hannibal, a Carthaginian general, on the defeat of the fleet which he
commanded, was crucified by his own soldiers. Atilius
Regulus the consul, having beaten the Carthaginians in a
naval battle, crossed into Africa.