Heroes of the Republic

Some months ago, we looked at the story of Horatius Cocles, and his incredible valour in defence of the city of Rome at the birth of the Republic (for the story, please click here). Through tremendous bravery, Rome had been saved from destruction at the hands of the Etruscans, and their mighty King Lars Porsenna of Clusium. Yet, despite this extraordinary moment, Tarquinius Superbus, the exiled seventh and final King of Rome, refused to give in. Through treachery, deceit and lies he had been forced from his rightful throne, and would not so easily be stopped in getting it back...

The City of Clusium today
Photograph taken by the author

Though impressed by Horatius' fortitude, Lars Porsenna pushed forward, and for the first time since her foundation two hundred and forty four years earlier, Rome herself endured the humiliation of a siege. Tarquin demanded Porsenna to force the surrender of Rome, and the submission of her people to him once more. Not only had the Romans expelled him from the city, the Senate had decreed that the property of Tarquin was now public land. The theft of his land drove the king into fits of rage at the very mention of his old city. Fearing the might of the Tarquins still, Porsenna dared not disobey his fellow king and ally. Through his own strategic brilliance, Porsenna cut off Rome from her supplies, and overran her lands, but could not extinguish the city itself, well defended as it was. The siege grew in its ferocity. Starvation began to stalk the streets of Rome, slowly strangling the life out of her people. The Senate, in desperation, sent envoys to the Latin cities to the South, calling for aid. Alas it was in vain, for the Latin ambassadors saw the Roman plight as hopeless, and made their peace with the Etruscans. Rome was on her own. Lars Porsenna, a shrewd yet honourable man, saw the desperation of the Romans, sent envoys to the city one last time. The war, and their famine, could all be over if they would just accept Tarquin once more. Though dire was their state, the Romans held their honour still. Never again would a Roman bow to an Etruscan King, and the envoys returned with a defiant refusal to their king. The end seemed near, for though they retained their freedom, for now, it seemed they had condemned themselves to death. It was from this hopelessness that a man emerged among the Romans.


His name was Gaius Mucius, an aristocrat of considerable position, yet little known at the time, but whose name would one day be legend. Unable to tolerate the shame that Rome now endured any longer, Mucius summoned the Senate to put forward a proposition. Careful to avoid revealing too much, lest a traitor unveil his ploy to the foe, Mucius' request was cryptic, yet brief. "'I wish', he said, 'to cross the river and to enter, if I can, the enemy's lines. My object is neither plunder nor reprisals, but, with the help of God, something more important than either'". Intrigued, and filled with desperate hope, the Senate granted his request. Concealing a dagger in his clothes, Mucius took leave of the city.

Scaevola thrusts his hand into the fire
Painting by Rubens and Van Dyck

Emerging on the far side of the Tiber, Mucius approached the Etruscan camp. Successfully deceiving the guard on account of his not carrying any weapon openly, and his knowledge of their language, which he had learned from his Etruscan nurse as a boy, Mucius made his way to the heart of their encampment. Passing the endless stretches of tents, Mucius came at last to a clearing, in which a vast crowd were gathered, all apparently queuing before a raised dais at the centre. Atop the platform there were seated two men in magnificent attire - robed in purple and bearing the symbols of power, each looked every part the king of the great city of Clusium. No one stopped Mucius as he approached, seeing no weapon, and now was his chance. But he was wracked with uncertainty. He did not know what Porsenna looked like - which was he?! One of the two was receiving a great many addresses from the crowd, and Mucius reasoned that this must be the king. With a shout of fury, Mucius revealed his concealed blade, and drove it into the man. In an instant, as blood spurted from the man's throat, a hundred pairs of hands seized Mucius and dragged him before the other man. Mucius realised to his horror that he had stabbed the wrong man, for it was the king's secretary now lifeless on the floor. It was pay day for the army, and the soldiers had simply been collecting their wages from him. There was no help at hand, the situation was desperate. But brave Mucius flinched not once as the true Lars Porsenna fixed him with a baleful glare, demanding to know who this man was before he died:


"'I am a Roman', he said to the king, 'my name is Gaius Mucius. I came here to kill you - my enemy. I have as much courage to die as to kill. It is our Roman way to do and to suffer bravely. Nor am I alone in my resolve against your life; behind me is a long line of men eager for the same honour. Gird yourself, if you will, for the struggle - a struggle for your life from hour to hour, with an armed enemy always at your door. That is the war we declare against you: you need fear no action in the field, army against army; it will be fought against you alone, by one of us at a time...'"
                   - SCAEVOLA'S THREAT

Scaevola and Porsenna
Painting by Matthias Stom

In rage mingled with alarm, Porsenna at once ordered the prisoner to be burned alive unless he immediately revealed the plot he at alluded to. Mucius, with a shout of "See how cheap men hold their bodies when they care only for honour!", thrust his right hand into the nearby fire, and left it there to burn. The flames roared and licked his arm, and his flesh charred away, yet Mucius held it still. Never once did the Roman shout in pain, never once did he flinch in agony, never once did he pass out through pain. The gathered crowd looked on, stunned into silence, unable to believe what they saw. Porsenna himself, astonished at Mucius' seemingly divine endurance, ordered his guards to set the man free, so impressed was he. The king blessed his staggering courage, and promised Mucius that "I, as an honourable enemy, grant you pardon, life and liberty". Withdrawing his hand from the conflagration without any hint of the terrible agony he had just felt, Mucius bowed, and revealed to the king that three hundred other men, young and of noble blood like himself, had all sworn to kill him in their turn, and that he drew the first lot. "The rest will follow, each in his turn and time, until fortune favour us and we have got you". So impressed was the King of Clusium at the valour of the Roman people, and so shaken was he at the thought of three hundred more assassins, he at once bade envoys to go to Rome to negotiate peace.


Mucius returned to Rome a hero. He became known ever after as Scaevola (Latin for ' the Left-Handed Man') and his fame was everlasting, his descendants holding the very highest offices of state in the Republic for centuries to come. The people of Rome shouted his name, and the Senate lavished gifts upon him, and even today, you will find Scaevola and the immolation of his hand immortalised through painting in the finest palaces across the world. Soon the ambassadors of the Clusian King came before the Senate once more. Lars Porsenna had been astounded by the resolve of the Romans, but had not yet been robbed of his sense of reality. Once again, bound by honour to his ally, he urged the Romans to accept Tarquin's rule. Once again, the Romans refused. Unfazed, the king demanded the return of territory to the Etruscans that Rome had taken in ages past. Seeing this as fair, the Senate agreed, on the condition that the Etruscans withdraw their garrison from the Janiculum Hill. This Porsenna agreed to, on the condition that he be handed over hostages as a sign of good faith. Both sides agreed, and the Clusians withdrew with their prisoners.

Cloelia and the women of Rome
Painting by Rubens

But such was the heroism of Scaevola, now all Romans were inspired to emulate him. Another hero of the Republic now rose, though this time it was no great nobleman or warrior, but a young girl. Not long after Scaevola's triumphant return, on the banks of the Tiber alongside the Etruscan camp, the hostages lay. Rising up, the maiden Cloelia rallied the women in the camp to action, for the sake of their honour. Then, for the glory of Rome, she hurled herself into the Tiber, breaking free of the guards. Under a hailstorm of arrows and javelins, the women followed her, shaking off their bonds and forcing their escape. With selfless devotion, Cloelia led them all ashore and back to the city. Tarquin was furious that the treaty had been broken, and ordered Porsenna to take them back. But the King of Clusium had never before been faced with such a conflict within. The women were received with more glory than even Horatius and Scaevola, and the morale of the Roman people soared to towering heights. The Senate, however, ridden with guilt over the breach of the oath, send ambassadors to Porsenna, declaring that the women had acted of their own accord, and not under order. The king was impressed at the valour of the women of Rome, and requested only that they return Cloelia as a hostage - the others, he declared, were free. He assured them, however, that he believed Cloelia to be greater than Scaevola or Horatius, and that if they returned her, he would set her free too.


Both Roman and Etruscan were loyal to honour, and ill feeling between Roman and Clusian was sapping away. Cloelia willingly returned of her own accord to Porsenna. The guards approached to restrain her, but Porsenna stayed their hand. Praising her and offering his protection, the king offered her to choose which other hostages she might take with her back to Rome. It is said that off all of them, she chose the young men out of her maiden modesty, and so that Rome's future could be assured. Delighted, Porsenna ordered them all released, and not for the first time, Cloelia was received in triumph back in Rome. To her the Senate accorded a special honour - they raised a magnificent statue of her on horseback on the Sacred Way, an accolade no woman had ever received before.

Cloelia and the women of Rome make their escape
Painting by Wouters

Tarquin, however, was vehement in his condemnation. When he sent forth a squadron to intercept the women on their return, Porsenna's mind was made up, and they were protected. The Roman Senate, grateful for his support, sent to the Etruscan King a rare embassy. Roman and Clusian could be enemy no more, but friend. The Roman ambassadors urged Lars Porsenna not to ask again if they would accept the yoke of the Tarquins. "There was not a man in the city who did not pray that the end of liberty, should it come, might also be the end of Rome", and they urged Porsenna that, "if he had the good of Rome at heart, to accept the fact that she would never surrender liberty". Lars Porsenna of Clusium was deeply impressed. "'Since', he said, 'it is clear that nothing can shake your determination, I will no longer weary you with requests which I know now to be useless; nor shall I deceive the Tarquins with the hope of aid which I have no power to give. They must find - by force of arms or otherwise, as they please - some other place to spend exile in: for nothing must disturb the friendly relations between myself and Rome'". The king's actions spoke even greater than his words, as he released all prisoners, and returned to Rome to territory he had taken. Severing his alliance once and for all, he renounced his cause to restore the Tarquins to the Roman throne. After a public vote, the Roman people gave to Porsenna a throne of ivory, a crown of gold and a triumphal robe. Peace was at hand. Rome and Clusium parted company as firm friends. But there was one among them all who was far from happy. For Tarquin the Proud withdrew in cold fury. The Siege of Rome was over, but Tarquin's ambition was not. For he was a Roman King, and once a Roman, always a Roman. He could never give in. Setting out one final time, Rome's old king would return in vengeance, and deliver one last blow to the city which had betrayed him...


United Kingdom

Livy:
The Early History of Rome: Bks. 1-5 (Penguin Classics)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, from its humble origins to its mastery of the world, which recounts the stories of the heroism of the Romans during the siege)

Dionysius of Halicarnassus:
Roman Antiquities: v.3: Vol 3 (Loeb Classical Library)
(The third volume of a vast history of Rome, told with more detail than Livy, and in more archaic language)

United States

Livy:
Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics) (Bks. 1-5)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, from its humble origins to its mastery of the world, which recounts the stories of the heroism of the Romans during the siege)

Dionysius of Halicarnassus:
Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Roman Antiquities, Volume III, Books V-VI, 48 (Loeb Classical Library No. 357)
(The third volume of a vast history of Rome, told with more detail than Livy, and in more archaic language)

The Oath of the Horatii

Some months ago, you may remember the story of Publius Horatius Cocles, the great hero of the Republic, whose inspiring valour saved Rome from destruction at her hour of greatest peril (please click here for the story). It would have been with profound significance that the Romans looked upon Horatius in awe, for he was not the first of his line to shower glory upon his great city. Some one hundred and fifty years earlier, the ancestors of Horatius engaged in an epic duel to decide the fate of the great city, in a story Romans and their descendants would revere millennia later.

King Tullus Hostilius
Painting in the Capitoline Museums.

About one hundred years after the founding of the City, Rome was ruled by Tullus Hostilius, Third of the Seven Great Kings of Rome. As indeed his name suggests, Tullus was a warlike King. So powerful was his lust for war, Tullus even began to neglect the worship of the gods, something which would later spell his doom. But that was later. Scorning peace as the policy of the weak, and eager to raise the greatness of Rome, Tullus was most at home on the battlefield. Though many men harboured such ambitions in history, Tullus also possessed the ability to win, and was himself a fearsome presence to the enemies of Rome. So when news reached Rome that her pastures had been raided by the troops of the city of Alba Longa, Tullus needed little encouragement. As King, it was his duty to defend his people. The promise of glory was a mighty bonus. Yet Alba Longa was not just another city. War between Alba and Rome was like war between father and son. Both Romans and Albans were descended from the Royal Trojan line of Aeneas, and from Alba Longa had sprung the first men of Rome herself. The prospect of at last uniting the cities under one banner was a grand one, but who would be the master, Alba or Rome?

The Alban Lake - site of Alba Longa of old
Photograph taken by the author.

The envoys of Rome and Alba Longa met before the latter's city with a proposition. For a great dilemma plagued both King Tullus and Mettius Fufetius, the Alban ruler. Both Rome and Alba stood in the shadow of the formidable power of the Etruscans, a powerful people on land and at sea. Should Rome and Alba Longa wear each other out through war, Etruria would overrun them both. Yet honour and fate dictated that one of these great cities would triumph, the other to fall. Tullus, ever ready for glory, suggested that each city send forth its greatest champion to fight in single combat, offering himself to fight as the Roman champion and calling upon Fufetius to follow his example. Fufetius, however, did not have Tullus' bravery. Buckling at the sight of the great Roman King, he quickly suggested an alternative - that each city should choose three champions and put them into the field, as merely one on one was susceptible to the whims of chance as much as fate. Three was also a fortuitous number, containing within it a beginning, a middle and an end. Both Roman and Alban agreed, and each leader turned and stood before his own countrymen. The stakes were enormous, for the victor lay the path of greatness and Empire, for the loser, the path of slavery.

The Oath of the Horatii
Painting by Jacques-Louis David.

As both rulers addressed their men, a tremendous exultation broke out in both camps. For three among their number lay the promise of immortality, to fight for their country before the eyes of both cities and their Kings. So many were desperate to volunteer, both Tullus and Fufetius had great difficulty in finding just three champions. It so happened that Fate had furnished both Alba and Rome with three heroes. Many years before, a man of Alba Longa named Sicinius had married off his twin daughters, one to Horatius, a Roman, and the other to Curiatius, an Alban. Not long after, each daughter bore three boys, all endowed with nobility of mind, strength of body and perfection of form. Fufetius came to Tullus and reminded him of this, persuading the King that Fate must have been at work here. It so happened that the three Curiatii brothers were present in the Alban camp, and the three Horatii brothers were in the Roman camp. Fufetius told Tullus that the Curiatii eagerly agreed to fight, and Tullus resolved to approach the Horatii. Calling a ten day truce whilst the Romans decided, both parties withdrew.

Tullus came before the three Horatii brothers, and offered them the chance to fight, but expressed his concern that they would be challenging their own blood relatives to mortal combat. The King and the Senate had both agreed that no one would think worse of the Horatii if they refused because of this, but that immortal glory would be bestowed upon them should they prevail. The Horatii stayed their eagerness however, and informed Tullus that they wished greatly the honour he offered, but as dutiful sons they must first consult their father. Praising their devotion, Tullus granted them leave. Their father, giving joy to the gods for having granted him sons possessed of such noble bearing, embraced his three sons, imparting his blessing and bidding them go forth as men now, and that the choice must be theirs. Delighted, the Horatii came before the King and agreed to fight. Fate, they decreed, had already broken the ties of kinship between the two triplets.

The Fallen Roman Champions
Painting in the Capitoline Museums.

Both Alba and Rome returned to the field, and a fateful day. The six champions armed for battle, and both armies faced each other across the plain, both looking upon the ground marked out for the duel before them, both Kings nervous with the tension. As the brothers stepped onto the field, both Alba and Rome cheered their kin, calling upon their ancestors, their country and their gods to smile upon this day:

          " Careless of death and danger, each thought only of his country's fate,
            of the grim choice between lordship and ignominy, which they themselves,

            and they only, were about to decide... "

                            - THE CHAMPIONS GIRD FOR BATTLE

The Horatii and Curiatii swore an oath to uphold the pact, that neither would retreat, and all would honour the terms of combat. The trumpets blasted, and with a flash of steel and sweat, the duel began. The crash of blade upon shield was matched only by the shouts from both armies, as the champions fought hard. Just then, the dust from battle rose, and neither side was sure of the other, for the Roman and Alban champions were the image of each other, in face and sword arm. Just as the tension became unbearable, a great shout of triumph rose from the Alban ranks. The eldest of the Curiatii, showering blows upon one of the Roman Three, closed in for victory. The Roman champion, wavering through his many wounds, began to see the mist close over his eyes. The Alban seized his chance and thrust his sword through the Roman's groin. So the first of the six fell, and the Curiatii shouted in triumph, and the Romans grieved as though all were already lost. Enraged by his brother's fall, however, the closest Roman champion hurled himself on the celebrating Alban, striking again and again, his grief mixing with anger. In a great rage, the Roman drove his blade into the man's neck, and the second of the six fell lifeless to the dust. The Romans looked up and saw hope, and the pride of Alba Longa wounded.



The Triumph of Horatius
Painting in the Capitoline Museums.

But Fate was ever fickle, and the next Curiatius looked in dismay at his fallen brother, and the Alban and Roman champions slammed into each other. Both heroes lunged, and the Roman threw himself under the shield of his foe and slashed the Alban's thigh, blood spattering the ground. But the Alban's aim was truer. With a mighty strike, his sword was plunged deep into the Roman's back, piercing his bowels, and the third of the six fell. Now two of the Curiatii still lived, though one could barely stand, his wounded leg pouring forth blood, whilst only a single Roman champion was left. Alba Longa cried its coming victory, whilst the eyes of the Romans, and Tullus, were fixed upon Horatius, their last hope. The Alban champions surrounded Horatius, whose plight looked desperate. Spying that one of the Curiatii's wounds were grave, forced to support himself with his shield as he was, Horatius conceived a daring plan. Feigning cowardice, Horatius charged off into the distance. The Albans mocked the Romans and revelled in his apparent fear. The Romans chastised their champion for running in battle, lamenting as though all hope was lost. But then, reaching the edge of the arena, Horatius turned to face his foes. The Romans, tears in their eyes, raised their arms to the skies, praying to Father Jupiter. Taken aback by this sudden renewal of courage, the unwounded Alban champion's guard was down when Horatius slammed his sword into the man's arm, cleaving his elbow in two, before striking again in the man's chest. Thus the fourth of the six fell. The Albans looked on, stunned, whilst the Romans gained heart. Horatius sprinted across the field to engage the final foe, who was on the verge of passing out, and brought his sword down one last time, and the Heavens shook to the roar of triumph from the Romans...

Trouble and woes were yet to come for the Romans, and indeed Horatius, on their return to Rome. The curse of spilling kindred blood never rests, but the duel had been won, and for Rome the path of glory lay beyond, and the omens of her future looked magnificent. In a future post we shall see the aftermath of this great duel, and the tragedy which struck Rome soon after. The road to immortality was a long one...

The story of the duel was a national legend in the Roman consciousness, known by every Roman boy centuries afterward, and picked up by the generations beyond. The legend can be found in two ancient works, both readily available from Amazon:

United Kingdom

Livy:
The Early History of Rome: Bks. 1-5 (Penguin Classics)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, including the duel of the Horatii and Curiatii)

Dionysius of Halicarnassus:
The Roman Antiquities: v. 2 (Loeb Classical Library)
(Part Two of an account of the Rise of Rome from a Romanised Greek, more detailed)

United States

Livy:
Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics) (Bks. 1-5)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, including the duel of the Horatii and Curiatii)

Dionysius of Halicarnassus:
Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Roman Antiquities, Volume II, Books 3-4 (Loeb Classical Library No. 347)
(Part Two of an account of the Rise of Rome from a Romanised Greek, more detailed)

Horatius at the Bridge

The rolling hills of Etruria
Photograph by the author

The birth of the Republic was a defining moment in the history of Rome, and marked a key turning point in the lives of its people. Since the founding of the City in 753 BC, Rome had seen the rule of Seven Great Kings, and had risen from a group of mud huts on the Palatine Hill to the first city in Latium. But two hundred and forty four years after the founding of the city, mobilised by the propaganda of Lucius Junius Brutus, the people of Rome had cast out their seventh King – Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, known infamously to history as Tarquin the Proud. Denounced as an arrogant tyrant, Tarquin had returned from a campaign one day to find the Gates of Rome sealed before him and the people jeering from the walls. Enraged, the King turned to his kin, the Etruscan peoples, to aid him in taking back his rightful throne. What later followed would be a conflict which would give rise to many heroes of the Republic, first among whom was the man who stood alone against the might of Etruria in defence of his city – Publius Horatius ‘Cocles’ (a name he bore in commemoration of an eye he lost in war).

Immortalised only seconds after his valiant defense, the fortitude of Horatius captured the visions of many great writers and poets of Rome and Greece. There was a time when every English schoolboy learned to memorise the words of one of my all time favourite works -Lord Macaulay’s famous poem Horatius. One man, one Roman against impossible odds, it was a golden age of older days, when heroes abounded and petty squabbles were not yet born, and legends were forged.

The King and his family were forced to flee Rome before the mob, and called on the might of the Etruscan League for aid. Many great cities answered Tarquin’s summons, including the powerful cities of Veii and Tarquinii, but greatest of all was the city of Clusium, and its widely renowned King Lars Porsenna. Seeing the danger, should Rome’s new idea of a Republic spread to other cities, Lars Porsenna raised his countrymen to war:

                                          “ Lars Porsenna of Clusium

                                                    By the Nine Gods he swore

                                            That the great House of Tarquin

                                                    Should suffer wrong no more.

                                            By the Nine Gods he swore it,

                                                    And named a trysting day,

                                            And bade his messengers ride forth,

                                                    East and West and South and North,

                                            To summon his array. ”

                                                              - LARS PORSENNA ROUSES ETRURIA TO WAR

Thus Etruria’s might marched on the young city of Rome. Within the city, panic abounded as the Republic sent forth its men to meet Porsenna, but was overrun on the Janiculum Hill. “The enemy forces came pouring down the Hill, while the Roman troops, throwing away their weapons, were behaving more like an undisciplined rabble than a fighting force”. The broken men fled across the great bridge, the Pons Sublicius, but among them one man stood firm:

Horatius
Engraving by Hendrik Goltzius

              

               “ Then out spake brave Horatius,

                           The Captain of the Gate:

                 'To every man upon this earth

                            Death cometh soon or late.

                  And how can men die better

                            Than facing fearful odds,

                  For the ashes of his fathers,

                            And the temples of his gods, ”

                          - HORATIUS STANDS FIRM

                        

  

 

Horatius stands alone
Painting in the Capitoline Museums

Among his fleeing countrymen, two men – Spurius Lartius and Titus Herminius – turned at his words, ashamed to abandon his side. The three pledged their lives to hold the Bridge, until it be destroyed behind them. Lest the Etruscans take the Bridge and the City itself, wealth and class no longer divided Rome, as senator and plebeian alike began to tear apart the timbers of the Bridge. Amused at the three men stood before them, many times the Etruscans charged, and many times the three threw them back. Soon the Bridge began to creak and groan, and Horatius bade loyal Lartius and Herminius to flee to the city, as he alone stood as the last planks fell. Cries flew from the city calling Horatius to return before the hour grew late, but the mighty warrior stood firm and dared Etruria's finest to take arms against him:

  “ For the pursuers, looking upon him as a madman who was courting death,

    Dared no longer come to grips with him... But standing massed at a distance,

    They hurled spears, javelins, and large stones at him,

    And those who were not supplied with these threw the swords and bucklers of the slain. ”

                                                     - THE ETRUSCANS TRY TO OVERCOME HORATIUS

Horatius mocked his foes as tyrant’s slaves and careless of their own liberty, and challenged all among them to single combat. The Etruscans were struck dumb at the sight before them, for:

                                             “ Alone stood brave Horatius,

                                                         But constant still in mind;

                                               Thrice thirty thousand foes before,

                                                        And the broad flood behind.

                                              ‘Down with him!’ cried false Sextus,

                                                       With a smile on his pale face.

                                              ‘Now yield thee’, cried Lars Porsenna,

                                                      ‘Now yield thee to our grace’. ”

                                                                 - HORATIUS STANDS DEFIANT

The great man’s wounds grew grave, as lance and arrow pierced his flesh. The air was rent with a mighty crack as Pons Sublicius crashed into the Tiber. His ploy successful, Horatius raised his eyes to the Heavens with prayer:

The goddess Roma spurs on Horatius
Painting by Charles Le Brun

                        

                                         “ ‘Oh Tiber! Father Tiber!

                                                      To whom the Romans pray,

                                             A Roman’s life, a Roman’s arms

                                                      Take thou in charge this day!’

                                             So he spake, and speaking sheathed

                                                      The good sword by his side,

                                              And with his harness on his back,

                                                       Plunged headlong in the tide. ”

                                                              - HORATIUS PRAYS TO FATHER TIBER

A shout of triumph from the city, as their saviour crossed the Tiber, a moan of despair from their foe. But the currents of the Tiber were strong, and the wounded hero fought hard to reach the Latin banks:

                                          “ ‘Curse on him!’ qouth false Sextus;

                                                     ‘Will not the villain drown?

                                              But for this stay, ere close of day

                                                      We should have sacked the town!’

                                             ‘Heaven help!’ quoth Lars Porsenna

                                                     ‘And bring him safe to shore;

                                              For such a gallant feat of arms

                                                      Was never seen before. ”

                                                               - LARS PORSENNA ADMIRES HORATIUS

People rushed from their homes to see brave Horatius, sure they were of the mortality of his wounds. But Horatius lived and was hailed a hero of the Republic. A bronze statue was raised to him in the most prominent part of the Forum, and to him was gifted as much land as he could drive a plough around in one day. Rome was saved, but the siege continued, and pestilence struck the Seven Hills. The blockade began to hit home, and starvation became the norm, yet for all their toil, each man ensured that one among them would not die for want of food.

The story of Horatius was legendary in Ancient times, it is no less so in modern times. Lord Macaulay's poem was responsible for the rise in the popularity of the legend once more, and is a personal favourite of my own. The story can be found in many sources, all of which can be acquired very easily from Amazon:

United Kingdom

A Roman Account:
The Early History of Rome: Bks. 1-5 (Penguin Classics)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, including the defence of Horatius)

A Greek Account:
Roman Antiquities: v.3: Vol 3 (Loeb Classical Library)
(An account of the legendary rise of Rome from a Romanised Greek perspective)

Lord Macaulay's Poem:
Lays of Ancient Rome (Dodo Press)
(An iconic and expertly crafted poetic retelling) 

United States

A Roman Account:
Livy: The Early History of Rome, Books I-V (Penguin Classics) (Bks. 1-5)
(The full story of the Rise of Rome, including the defence of Horatius)

A Greek Account:
Dionysius of Halicarnassus: Roman Antiquities, Volume III, Books V-VI, 48 (Loeb Classical Library No. 357)
(An account of the legendary rise of Rome from a Romanised Greek perspective)

Lord Macaulay's Poem:
The Lays of Ancient Rome
(An iconic and expertly crafted poetic retelling)