Attilio Regolo

The Carthaginians who wanted to rapidly end the war, thought to send Regolo back to Rome to propose a peace treaty .
The terms were clear: he should come back to Carthage if he had not obtained the desidered peace.
Once arrived in Rome, Attilio Regolo urged the Senate to continue the war because he was sure that Carthage could not hold out long. The valiant consul could have stayed in Rome but to keep his word, even if with the enemy, he went back to Carthage, where a sure death waited him. To his friends and relatives who prayed him to stay, he answered that a Roman could not break his word.
Back in Carthage, the Carthaginians knowing that he had told the Romans to continue the war, were not moved by his loyalty. They made him tumble down a rock inside a barrel spiked with nails. The war went on and Rome won.