Horatius Cocles
Horatius Codes ( cocles : Latin for "one-eyed man") was a folk hero of Roman mythology of the family of the Horatii . He is said to have been in the year 507 BC. BC alone defended the bridge over the Tiber leading to Rome against the Etruscans . Meanwhile, the Romans tore down the bridge behind him and Cocles, with the help of the gods in full armor, swam safely to Rome (according to Titus Livius ) or drowned in the river (according to Polybius ).
The legend about him probably originated from a one-eyed Vulcanus statue that stood by the bridge over the Tiber. When the struggle began, the rural population sought refuge behind the city walls. The Ianiculum , that hill that lay directly across the Tiber, had already fallen into the hands of the Etruscan superiority, so that it was inevitable to demolish the bridge.
Horatius Cocles, as the leader of the bridge watch, held back his escaping companions and ordered them to hack the pillars of the bridge. Meanwhile , together with Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius , he stopped at the far end of the bridge. He ordered his two companions to get to safety before the bridge collapsed. But he sent a prayer to the god of the river and jumped into the water in full armor. In a hail of bullets he reached the other bank.
For this heroic deed, Horatius Cocles was allegedly honored with a statue on the square of the people's assembly ( comitium ) and given him as much land as he could plow in one day.
swell
- Polybios , Historien 6,55.
- Livy, Roman History 2: 10-13.
literature
- Fritz Graf : Horatius [1]. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 5, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01475-4 , column 718.
- Linda Simonis: Horatier and Curiatier. In: Peter von Möllendorff , Annette Simonis, Linda Simonis (ed.): Historical figures of antiquity. Reception in literature, art and music (= Der Neue Pauly . Supplements. Volume 8). Metzler, Stuttgart / Weimar 2013, ISBN 978-3-476-02468-8 , Sp. 515-524.
Web links
- Jonah Lendering: Horatius Cocles . In: Livius.org (English)