Horatius Cocles
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| Roman Mythology | ||
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In Roman mythology, Horatius Cocles (cocles: Latin for "the one-eyed man") was a hero who defended alone the bridge that led to Rome against the Etruscans. While he did so, the Romans destroyed the bridge; when they were done he swam to safety on the Roman side (according to Livy), or was drowned in the Tiber (according to Polybius). The legend probably arose on account of a statue of the deformed Vulcan that stood near the Vatican Hill. The story is retold in Horatius at the Bridge by Lord Macaulay, a poem of vast popularity in the late nineteenth century.
External link
- Macaulay's poem (http://wikisource.org/wiki/Horatius)
- Another article (http://www.livius.org/ho-hz/horatius/cocles.html)de:Horatius Cocles