eos qu<oqu>e gravi nota adfecerunt qui cum in potestatem Hannibalis venissent, legati ab eo missi ad senatum de permutandis captivis neque impetrato quod petebant, in urbe manserunt, quia et Romano sanguini fidem praestare conveniens erat et M. Atilius Regulus censor perfidiam notabat, cuius pater per summos cruciatus exspirare quam fallere Carthaginienses satius esse duxerat.
They also visited some individuals who had come under Hannibal's control, bearing a great stigma. These individuals had been dispatched by Hannibal as emissaries to the senate, in order to negotiate an exchange of prisoners, but had remained in the city after their mission had failed. Since keeping faith was deemed appropriate for Roman lineage, the Censor who labeled them as traitors was M. Atilius Regulus, whose father had chosen to die in excruciating agony rather than violate his pledge to the Carthaginians.