 Marus then tells Serranus about the Spartan Xanthippus in the First Punic War and the use of Regulus as an envoy for Carthage.Marcia, Serranus' mother, asks Regulus not to return, but he, respecting his oath, leaves her and is tortured to death by the Carthaginians.A bloodied Fama reports the battle at Rome, after which Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator, whose family history is described, is elected consul.