Editing Horatius Cocles

{{Short description|Roman soldier who prevented an Etruscan army from crossing the bridge over the Tiber}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
[[File:Horatius Cocles De Romeinse helden (serietitel), RP-P-OB-10.336.jpg|thumb|right|Horatius Cocles, a fanciful 1586 engraving by [[Hendrick Goltzius]].]]

'''Publius Horatius Cocles''' was an officer in the army of the early [[Roman Republic]] who famously defended the [[Pons Sublicius]] from the invading army of [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] King [[Lars Porsena]] of [[Clusium]] in the late 6th century BC, during the [[Roman-Etruscan Wars#War with Clusium in 508 BC|war between Rome and Clusium]].<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AurQAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA60 |page=60 |title=Early Rome: From the Foundation of the City to Its Destruction by the Gauls |first=Wilhelm |last=Ihne |publisher=Longmans, Green & Co. |year=1877}}</ref> By defending the narrow end of the bridge, he and his companions were able to hold off the attacking army long enough to allow other Romans to destroy the bridge behind him, blocking the Etruscans' advance and saving the city.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mIdrAfM-eHgC&pg=PA30 |page=30 |title=History of Rome: from the building of the city to the ruin of the Republic |first=William |last=Godwin |publisher=M. J. Godwin |year=1809}}</ref>

==Background==
[[File:Siège de Porsenna.GIF|thumb|Siege of Rome by the Etruscans under [[Lars Porsena]]. This animated depiction shows the phases of the battle, including the defense of the bridge by Horatius.]]

Horatius was a member of the ancient [[patrician (ancient Rome)|patrician]] house of the [[Horatia gens|Horatii]], celebrated in legend since the combat between the [[Horatii|Horatii and the Curiatii]] in the time of [[Tullus Hostilius]], the third [[Kings of Rome|Roman king]].<ref name="Dionysius">[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Romaike Archaiologia'', v. 24, 25.</ref>  He was a nephew of the [[Roman consul|consul]], [[Marcus Horatius Pulvillus]], and is said to have obtained his [[agnomen]], ''Cocles'', meaning "one-eyed",{{efn-lr|Varro suggested that "Cocles" was derived from the [[Latin]] "oculus"; others have suggested a [[Ancient Greek|Greek]] loan-word, from the same root as "cyclops".}} because he lost an eye in the Battle of the Sublician Bridge.<ref name="Dionysius"/>  However, this may be a later elaboration, as the famous statue of Horatius, lame and one-eyed, which was still visible, though heavily weathered, in the time of [[Pliny the Elder]], was probably intended as a depiction of the god [[Vulcan (mythology)|Vulcan]], and only became identified with Horatius when its original subject was no longer recognizable.<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''Historia Naturalis'', xxxiv. 5. s. 11.</ref><ref>Michael Grant, ''Roman Myths'', pp. 184–185.</ref>

In 509 BC, King [[Lars Porsena]] was at the head of an army that [[Roman-Etruscan Wars|marched on Rome]]. Concentrating his forces on the Etruscan (west) side of the [[Tiber]], [[Lars Porsena|Porsena]] assaulted [[Janiculum]] hill and seized it and all its materiel from the terrified Roman guard. Porsena left an Etruscan garrison to hold it, then proceeded towards the [[Pons Sublicius]], the only regional bridge across the Tiber. The Romans awaited in the Naevian Meadow between Porsena and the bridge. The Tarquins commanded the Etruscan left wing facing the Roman troops of [[Spurius Larcius]] and Titus Herminius. [[Octavius Mamilius]] commanded the Etruscan right wing consisting of rebel Latins; they faced Romans under [[Marcus Valerius Volusus]] and [[Titus Lucretius Tricipitinus]]. Porsena commanded the center, facing the two Roman consuls.<ref>Dionysius, v. 22.</ref> Porsena had the Romans outnumbered and intended to intimidate them into retreat.

Battle ensued. The Etruscan right wing was successful in wounding Valerius and Lucretius, the commanders of the Roman left wing. After both were carried off the field, the Romans began to panic and ran for the bridge. The enemy pursued.

==Horatius at the bridge==
[[File:Plan Rome - Pons Sublicius.png|thumb|upright|Anachronistic map of Rome, with dark lines marking the city walls; the innermost wall is the relevant [[Servian Wall]], the outer wall does not yet exist. The [[Naevian Gate]] (indicated) in the Servian Wall leads to the [[Pons Sublicius]] bridge across the Tiber. Janiculum Hill is to the west, just beyond the map;  between the hill and the bridge is the Naevian Meadow.]]

Three Romans now defended the Pons Sublicius; the right wing's commanders [[Spurius Larcius]] and [[Titus Herminius Aquilinus]], plus Publius Horatius Cocles, a junior officer "on guard at the bridge when he saw the Janiculum taken by a sudden assault and the enemy rushing down from it to the river ...."<ref name="Livy ii 10">[[Livy]], ''[[Ab urbe condita (book)|History of Rome]]'', ii. 10.</ref>

The three defenders withstood sword and missile attacks until the Roman troops had all crossed.<ref>Dionysius, v. 23.</ref>

Livy's briefer and more skeptical account tells of no battle, only that Horatius' "own men, a panic-struck mob, were deserting their posts and throwing away their arms"; however, Horatius' courage manages to shame the two veteran commanders, Herminius and Lartius, to assist him momentarily with his defense of the bridge.<ref name="Livy ii 10"/>

Dionysius' account explains, "Herminius and Lartius, their defensive arms being now rendered useless by the continual blows they received, began to retreat gradually." They order Horatius to retreat with them, but he stood his ground. Understanding the threat to Rome if the enemy were to cross the river, he ordered his men to destroy the bridge. The enemy was shocked not only by Horatius' suicidal last stand, but also by his decision to use a pile of bodies as a shield wall. Horatius was struck by enemy missiles many times including a spear in the buttocks. Hearing word from his men they'd torn up the bridge, he "leaped fully armed into the river and swimming across ... he emerged upon the shore without having lost any of his weapons."<ref>Dionysius, v. 24.</ref>

Livy's version has him uttering this prayer to [[Tiberinus (god)|Father Tiber]]: "Tiberinus, holy father, I pray thee to receive into thy propitious stream these arms and this thy warrior."<ref name="Livy ii 10"/>

Horatius was awarded a crown for his valor (akin to a modern military decoration) and conducted into the city by a singing crowd joined by a grateful city. Horatius was now disabled and so could no longer serve in the army or hold public office,<ref>Dionysius, v. 25.</ref> but he was provided "as much of the public land as he himself could plow around in one day with a yoke of oxen," and each citizen of Rome was obligated to give him one day's ration of food. He would also be honoured with a bronze statue in the [[comitium]].{{efn-lr|Pliny, xxxiv. 11: "It was for a very different, and more important reason, that the statue of Horatius Cocles was erected, he having singly prevented the enemy from passing the important Sublician bridge."}}<ref name="Livy ii 10"/>

[[Polybius]]' account uses Horatius as an example of the men who have "devoted themselves to inevitable death...to save the lives of other citizens....[H]e threw himself into the river with his armor, and there lost his life as he had designed."<ref>Polybius, ''Historiae'', vi. 55.</ref>

<gallery widths="200px" heights="200px">
File:Le Brun, Charles - Horatius Cocles defending the Bridge - Google Art Project.jpg|Horatius at the Bridge, [[Charles Le Brun]], 1642–1643
File:Monogrammista IO.F.F., italia del nord, orazio coclite, fine del XV sec.JPG|Horatius at the bridge, Renaissance [[plaquette]], [[Wallace Collection]]
</gallery>

==Aftermath==
Horatius' defense stymied Lars Porsena's direct assault on the city walls, forcing him into a siege. The siege would  conclude with a peace treaty, leaving Rome intact.

==Skeptical points of view==
[[File:Waddesdon Bequest British Museum DSCF9660 07.JPG|thumb|Detail from the [[Ghisi Shield]] in the [[Waddesdon Bequest]]; a grotesque head in the larger scale above Horatius at the bridge in the smaller]]

The story of Horatius at the Bridge appears in many ancient sources, including [[Plutarch]], [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], and [[Livy]].  [[Florus]] tacitly acknowledges the extraordinary nature of the story: "It was on this occasion that those three prodigies and marvels of Rome made their appearance, Horatius, [[Gaius Mucius Scaevola|Mucius]] and [[Cloelia]], who, were they not recorded in our annals, would seem fabulous characters at the present day."<ref>Florus, ''Epitome of Livy'', i. 10.</ref>  [[Tacitus]] notes in passing that "when [Rome] was surrendered, [Lars Porsena] did not violate the seat of [[Jupiter (mythology)|Jupiter]]" (Rome's most important temple).<ref>Tacitus, ''Historiae'', iii. 72.</ref> This could be understood to mean that Rome surrendered during or after this battle.

Livy viewed the story as legendary, dubious of Horatius' fully armed swim, noting "though many missiles fell over him he swam across in safety to his friends, an act of daring more famous than credible with posterity."<ref name="Livy ii 10"/>

[[Tim Cornell|T.J. Cornell]] deems these various accounts invented by "unscrupulous annalists" as "face-saving victories in the immediate aftermath of these defeats", insisting "The annalists of the first century BC are thus seen principally as entertainers...."<ref>Cornell, "Historical Tradition of Early Rome", p. 74.</ref>

== Later uses of the theme ==
{{Wikisource|Lays of Ancient Rome/Horatius|Macaulay's Horatius}}
[[File:BnF Français 273-274 Tite-Live de Versailles, fol. 49, Horatius Coclès défendant Rome.jpg|thumb|upright|15th-century miniature]]

The story of the redoubtable Horatius at the Bridge began to be depicted in art during the Renaissance, but was never an especially popular theme. It tended to be shown by artists who favored recondite classical stories, and appear in the minor arts, such as [[plaquette]]s and [[maiolica]].

[[Napoleon]], after the battle of [[Klausen, South Tyrol|Klausen]], nicknamed General [[Thomas-Alexandre Dumas]] "The Horatius Cocles of Tyrol" for his solo defense of a bridge over the [[Eisack|River Eisack]].

The story of "Horatius at the Bridge" is retold in verse in the poem "[[s:Horatius|Horatius]]" in ''[[Lays of Ancient Rome]]'' by [[Thomas Babington Macaulay]], which enjoyed great popularity in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.<ref>Thomas Babington Macaulay, "[https://www.thoughtco.com/horatius-at-the-bridge-4070724 Horatius at the Bridge]" (N.S. Gill, ed.); accessed 2019.04.09.</ref>  The details of the poem often vary from the traditional tale by poetic license.  [[Winston Churchill]] wrote that while he "stagnated in the lowest form" at [[Harrow School|Harrow]], he gained a prize open to the whole school by reciting the whole "twelve hundred lines" of "Horatius".{{efn-lr|"Horatius" is not quite 600 lines; perhaps Churchill was referring to another of the ''Lays'' as well; if so probably "The Armada".}}<ref>Winston Churchill, ''My Early Life'', chapter 2.</ref> A biographical film about Churchill, ''[[Into the Storm (2009 film)|Into the Storm]]'' (2009), begins with the much older Churchill reciting from "Horatius": "And how can man die better, than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his gods."  Later in the film, the same verses feature prominently in a nostalgic and morose address Churchill delivers to his war cabinet.  Churchill also recites from "Horatius" in a scene from the biographical film [[Darkest Hour (film)|''Darkest Hour'']], and these lines occur in numerous works of fiction.

"[[A Nation Once Again]]" was a popular Irish rebel song, written in the early to mid-1840s by Thomas Osborne Davis (1814–1845) in furtherance of Irish nationalism. First published in ''The Nation'' on 13 July 1844 (two years after Macaulay's ''Horatius''), the first verse refers to the heroism of "ancient freemen, For Greece and Rome who bravely stood, three hundred men and three men", references the three hundred Spartans at [[Thermopylae]], and the three defenders at the Pons Sublicius.

Horatius figures prominently in [[Jessie Pope]]'s 1915 poem "The Longest Odds" about the exploits of a [[wikt:Highlander|highlander]] who single-handedly clears an entire German trench before being killed. His actions are likewise compared to both the Spartans and the Roman defenders.

The story of Horatius is echoed in a poem about Sven Dufva, "[[The Tales of Ensign Stål]]," recounting the story of a simple-minded but honest and dutiful soldier in the [[Finnish War]] who heroically holds back an attack by Russian forces at a bridge by himself, but dies in the effort.

In the 2013 film ''[[Oblivion (2013 film)|Oblivion]]'', the protagonist paraphrases Macaulay's "Horatius", and quotes many parts of the poem before confronting an overwhelming enemy.

==See also==
* [[Horatia gens]]
* [[Vulcanal]], a statue in honour of Horatius Cocles was said to have been set up here.

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist|group=lower-roman}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{Commons category|Horatius Cocles}}
{{Wikisource|From the Founding of the City/Book 2}}
{{Wikisource1911Enc|Horatius Cocles}}
* [[Polybius]], ''[[The Histories (Polybius)|Historiae]]'' (''The Histories'').
* [[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]], ''Romaike Archaiologia'' (''Roman Antiquities'').
* Titus Livius ([[Livy]]), ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri (Livy)|History of Rome]]''.
* Gaius Plinius Secundus ([[Pliny the Elder]]), ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Historia Naturalis]]'' (''Natural History'').
* [[Tacitus|Publius Cornelius Tacitus]], ''[[Histories (Tacitus)|Historiae]]''.
* [[Florus|Lucius Annaeus Florus]], ''Epitome de T. Livio Bellorum Omnium Annorum DCC'' (''Epitome of Livy: All the Wars of Seven Hundred Years'').
* [[Michael Grant (classicist)|Michael Grant]], ''Roman Myths'', Dorset Press (1971).
* T. J. Cornell, "The Formation of the Historical Tradition of Early Rome", in ''Past Perspectives: Studies in Greek and Roman Historical Writing'', T. J. Cornell, I. S. Moxon, John Woodman, eds., Cambridge University Press (1986).

== External links ==
* {{cite web|first=Jona|last=Lendering|title=Horatius Cocles|publisher=Livius Articles on Ancient History|url=https://www.livius.org/ho-hz/horatius/cocles.html|access-date=5 August 2009}}

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[[Category:6th-century BC Romans]]
[[Category:Characters in Roman mythology]]
[[Category:Horatii|Cocles]]
[[Category:Last stands]]
[[Category:Roman Republican soldiers]]