How the Roman Republic Began | Part 2 - Mucius Scaevola and Cloelia

This is the story of how a young man struck fear into the heart of a warrior king and how sacrificing oneself helped save a new republic from complete destruction. So if you just came from part one you can safely skip this little recap but if you need a little refresher on the events we covered in part one here it is. So in part one the Romans exiled their king Tarquin the Proud after almost 250 years of monarchy. The king's son had committed a terrible crime and the Romans already weren't too fond of Tarquin the Proud because he's a vain oppressive and tyrannical ruler. So after they got rid of the king the Romans installed a new republic which would be ruled by consuls and a senate. But the now former king Tarquin was not content to sit idly by and see his former kingdom of Rome just slip out of his grasp. So Tarquin the Proud rallied first one Etruscan city-state and then another to attack the Romans. The first to attack the Romans, the Veii, were defeated by the Roman army but that second Etruscan city-state was led by the fearsome king Larus Porcena and he would not be defeated that easily. In the initial battle between Larus Porcena and the Romans, Larus Porcena put the Roman army on the run. Most of the army fled all the way back into the city and hid behind the walls. Only one warrior named Horatius stood guard at the bridge into Rome, the last entrance into the city, and held off the Etruscan advance by himself. If it wasn't for that heroic deed, Larus Porcena and his army might have made it right into the city. But thankfully Horatius was able to hold off the Etruscans long enough for the Romans to destroy the bridge into the city. But after that, Larus Porcena did not give up. He had his army encircle the city and lay siege to it. The Etruscans dug in and they were prepared to wait out the Romans. And with that siege starting to drag on, that's exactly where the second part of story picks up. So the Etruscans placed their main camp on a plain just west of the Tiber river. And from there, Larus Porcena had ships brought in and he used them to blockade the river to prevent supplies from going in and out of the city and to send raiding parties across the Tiber to harass the Romans and force them to stay behind their walls. No supplies and no one was getting in or out of Rome. But the Romans had planned for this possibility. Weeks ago, when they had first heard that Larus Porcena and his army was marching against Rome, the new republican government had set up stores of food within the city to prepare just for this eventuality. But now that the siege had been dragging on for a while, the stores of food were starting to run out. And Tarquin the Proud and Larus Porcena, they weren't going anywhere. Tarquin had his eye on regaining the throne and Larus Porcena didn't want to return to Colusium without any spoils or plunder of war. What little grain was left in the city was being sold on the black market for exorbitant prices. And Rome was on the brink of famine. And to cap things off, Porcena was making life absolutely miserable for the Romans in other ways. His raiding parties made it dangerous to even set foot outside the city walls. And eventually, even the Romans' flocks of sheep had to be brought within the city walls to be safe from the Etruscan raiders. So the Etruscan raiding parties were roaming all over the countryside. They plundered whatever they could and their thefts went unpunished by the Roman army who stayed safely ensconced behind the city walls. This was not going over too well with the common people of Rome. Unrest was growing in the city. And people wondered why didn't the great Roman generals and army do something about these depredations being committed against them by the Etruscans? But the Romans' reluctance to engage in another battle with Larus Porcena was something of a ruse, or at least so we're told. The Consul Valerius had some of the Roman sheep herders take their flocks outside the city walls, supposedly out of desperation to graze them. Now by this point, the Etruscans had grown complacent. Not once had the Romans challenged one of their raiding parties. So when the Etruscans crossed the river that day, they didn't even bother to post sentries or guards at the river. But little did the Etruscans know, two well-armed bands of Roman soldiers were lying in ambush. The Romans encircled the Etruscan raiding party and prevented them from making it back to the river. Not one Etruscan returned to the camp that night. After that bloody skirmish, the Etruscans were content to remain in their camp and wait for the blockade and the famine to have their effect on Rome. But even so, Valerius couldn't solve the dire situation inside of Rome. When the Roman army had met Larus Porcena's in open battle, the Romans had fled in fear. But the siege was taking its toll on the people of Rome and Valerius wasn't sure how much longer the Romans could hold out. More and more citizens and slaves were sneaking out of Rome and over to the Etruscan lines. In fact, these desertions had grown so frequent that Valerius's earlier ruse had depended on some of these desperate refugees going over the Etruscans and telling them about the Romans' new grazing locations. Now a young Roman noble named Mucius took stock of this situation. He was an incredibly patriotic young man, so it seemed absurd to Mucius for the Romans to have thrown off the yoke of kings and exiled their last king, Tarquin the Proud, only to have that same disgraced king now come back and bottle them up in their own city. And on top of that, the army now besieging Rome was made up of Etruscans. These were people that the Romans had defeated in many battles before. At first, he told no one of his design. Mucius planned to sneak into the camp of Larus Porcena. Mucius believed that a single man under cover of darkness could make his way past the Etruscan sentries and into the camp. Once there, he would assassinate Larus Porcena. Without Porcena, Mucius believed the besiegers would be completely demoralized and would give up the fight. There was one problem. The Roman sentries posted all around the city. They weren't there just to guard against an Etruscan attack. They were also there to look for more Roman deserters and capture them and put them to death if need be. With so many desertions happening almost daily, Mucius feared being mistaken for a deserter himself. So on the appointed day, Mucius stood before the entire senate and this is what he said. Senators, I wish to cross the river, and if I can, I will enter the camp of Larus Porcena, not to plunder and not to exact revenge for previous devastations. No, I have my mind on a far greater cause. If the gods grant me their help, I will do a great deed and remove this plague from Rome. Mucius went on to describe his attempt on the life of Larus Porcena and how it would lift the siege and preserve the Republic of Rome. The senators looked among themselves, stunned by the audacity of this Roman youth. But eventually, despite their qualms, they granted their approval. These were desperate times. That night, Mucius prepared himself. He knew his plan was tantamount to a suicide mission. He said goodbye to his mother and father. He wore no armor. He fastened a short sword to his belt and concealed it beneath his tunic. Then, Mucius set out into the night, walking through the quiet city streets. He passed through the gate with the tacit approval of the senate and made his way to the river. Outside the walls, the lights of the city grew faint as Mucius approached the river. Under the light of stars, Mucius found his way to his crossing point. The voices of Etruscan soldiers on watch carried over the river. Mucius could hear them as, perhaps by skiff or by swimming, he made his way across the river and then dried himself off. Safely on the other side of the Tiber River, Mucius then crawled through the grass toward the fires of the Etruscan war camp. He lay still whenever the enemy voices seemed to be approaching too close. Eventually, Mucius made his way to the outer ring of the camp of Lars Porsena. There were soldiers milling all around. Mucius waited for the perfect opening. He looked around and then all at once stood up and walked boldly into the Etruscan camp. He avoided the most crowded fires, but it didn't matter because all of a sudden there was a great commotion in the camp. All the Etruscan soldiers were forming a crowd around a figure that Mucius could not see but assumed was Lars Porsena. The soldiers all jostled to be in front, stretching and craning, trying to see over the man in front of them. Mucius couldn't believe his luck. He assumed he was charmed by the gods. Mucius joined the rear of the crowd and tried to make his way forward. None of the Etruscan soldiers paid any attention to Mucius. Gradually, Mucius picked his way through the throng of soldiers. The source of the commotion had to be Lars Porsena. Who else could stir up the men in this way? At last, Mucius got close enough to the front that he was able to catch a glimpse of the men seated before the crowd. They were dressed in a manner befitting royalty. Their tunics were touched with purple. But all the Etruscan soldiers focused their attention on one man. They jockeyed for his attention. They addressed him with great respect and dignity. Now up until this point, Mucius hadn't decided exactly how he was going to attack his target, if he even found him. But gradually, the soldiers ahead of Mucius dispersed, one after another, some leaving in twos and threes, until Mucius found him at the very head of the remaining group of soldiers. He was just a few feet away from his target, the man he had sworn to kill. The seated royal men of Clusium addressed Mucius and told him to come forward. But the young Roman narrowed his gaze and strode forward boldly. At the last moment, Mucius drew his sword and fell upon the man who was seated at the center of the crowd. He stabbed him over and over again until the man went limp beneath him. It was a vicious attack, and when the man breathed no more, Mucius turned around. The entire crowd was so stunned that Mucius held up the sword, covered in blood, and the crowd parted for him. Mucius began to make his escape, but he didn't make it far. After a few moments, the Etruscans recovered their senses, and guards fell upon Mucius from all sides, beating him and striking him with blow after blow. And then they dragged him to the end of the camp, where there was a great tent. The guards threw Mucius to the ground before a man seated on a throne. With Mucius on his knees and surrounded by Etruscan guards, the king stood up. I am Lars Porsena, the man you attempted to murder without honor. The man you killed was my secretary. He was seeing that the soldiers received their pay. Now who are you? Account for yourself in your attempted crime. It took a moment, but Mucius got to his feet. The wary guards held their swords at the ready, ready to strike if Mucius tried anything foolish. Despite the many blows the Etruscan guards had done to him, Mucius' confidence was unbowed. Mucius spoke with more certainty now than when he had addressed the Roman Senate. I am a citizen of Rome. My name is Gaius Mucius, and I am your enemy, and I came here to kill you as an enemy. I am not afraid to die, and I am not afraid to kill. To act valiantly and to endure bravely, that is the Roman way. Lars Porsena reclined in his throne chair and considered the impudent young Roman before him. Porsena opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything, Mucius cut him off. Nor am I the only one to carry this violence against you. There are many more young men just like me inside of Rome, all vying for the honor of killing you. Prepare yourself, king. If you think this siege worthwhile, be aware that from now on, you will have to fight for your life every hour. You will look over your shoulder and wonder. You will go to sleep uncertain. You will question the face of every one of your soldiers, because whenever one of us is caught or killed, another one shall replace him. We will melt into your ranks. We will sneak into your camps, and we will hunt you down. This is the war that we Romans declare on you. There will be no lines of battle. There will be no ranks of soldiers. It will be just you and you alone against a single Roman youth, hungry for the honor of killing you. Lars Porsena was enraged by this. He leapt up, unable to speak, unable to think, wracked with fear and anger. You will tell me every detail of this plot against me, and you will tell me the names of every man who helped conceive this dishonorable plan. In response, Mucius shrugged. Porsena summoned the guards. Burn him alive, Porsena commanded. Outside the king's tent was a great sacrificial altar. Porsena had his soldiers build up the fire until the flames towered above them. Lars Porsena stared at the young Roman man about to be cast onto that great fire. Two Etruscan guards held Mucius by either arm, just waiting for the command to throw him into the fire. But before Lars Porsena could give the order to cast Mucius into the fire, Mucius broke free of his guards and he stuck his right hand into the fire. Mucius held his hand in the flames and locked eyes with Lars Porsena. The flames consumed his flesh and burned it from the bones. The fetid smell filled the air and the Etruscan soldiers looked away. But Mucius did not cry out. He gritted his teeth and pressed his lips together and gave no sign that he felt a thing. Look at me, king. Now you see what value Romans place on their bodies when they have their eyes set on greater glory. Enough, said Lars Porsena at last. Get him out of the fire. The Etruscan guards pulled Mucius away from the altar. You may leave, Porsena said, for you do more harm to yourself than me. Since you hold bravery in such high regard, I will tell you the details of the plot that you could not extort with threats and force. There are 300 of us. We are the foremost youths of Rome. We have conspired to assassinate you. I drew the first lot. Others will follow in whatever order falls to them. One of us will attack you, each at his own time, until fortune delivers your life into the hands of one of our number. It took everything in the king's power not to cry out, not to show this Roman youth how disturbed he was by this plan. Lars Porsena told the guards to take Mucius away, take him back to the river and send him back into Rome. Get him out of my sight. Shortly after Mucius returned to Rome, Lars Porsena sent envoys of peace to negotiate a treaty with the Romans. The Romans were overjoyed. A great field was named in Mucius' honor, and from then on Mucius was known as Mucius Scovola, or Mucius the Left-Handed. The peace negotiations were contentious. Porsena had started off by trying to make a condition of the treaty, be that Tarquin the Proud was restored as king of Rome. But the Romans laughed this off. No way, they said. But eventually the Romans and Etruscans agreed to a peace that satisfied all parties except for Tarquin the Proud. Rome would return the recently conquered lands of the Veii back to those people, and in response, Lars Porsena would march his great army back to Clusium. But Lars Porsena couldn't quite bring himself to trust the Romans anymore. So Porsena promised to withdraw only if the Romans gave him hostages, the sons and daughters of noble families, to take back to Clusium. The Romans agreed immediately and gave Porsena what he asked for, a large number of hostages, including a young woman named Cloelia. Now that Porsena had his Roman hostages, the sons and daughters of noble families, he marched his army away from Rome and lifted the siege. The Romans at last could move freely about their city again. The siege was over, but Lars Porsena had one more lesson to learn about the Roman temperament. Porsena's army naturally made camp that first night not too far from Rome. But no sooner had the tents been erected and the fires set to prepare the meal for the soldiers, than the sentries sounded an alarm. A small band of the Roman hostages was escaping, and they were led by a woman, Cloelia. Cloelia led as many of the hostages as she could back to the Tiber River. The Etruscan soldiers were hot on their trail. So first, Cloelia leapt into the river and encouraged the rest of the hostages to follow her. And they did, as Cloelia and the other hostages were swimming across the river. The Etruscans hurled their spears and javelins after them. But miraculously, Cloelia and all of the hostages made it to the other side of the river, completely safe and unscathed. The Romans naturally celebrated this, but were a little worried. And Lars Porsena was absolutely enraged. He was thinking about marching the army back to Rome and paying them back for yet another treachery. But at the same time, Lars Porsena was impressed by this amazing bravery shown by the Roman women, and especially Cloelia. So Lars Porsena came up with new terms for a treaty and sent his messengers to Rome to deliver them. If the Romans sent Cloelia back to him, Lars Porsena swore to march his army back to Clusium just as they agreed before. But if the Romans didn't send Cloelia back, he would re-engage the siege and he would not give up until he conquered Rome. The Romans had no choice. But Cloelia, she agreed right away, even though she couldn't know what her fate would be when she made it back to the camp of Lars Porsena. But if it would save Rome from another disastrous siege, Cloelia would do her duty. So the Romans kept their end of the bargain, and Cloelia proudly returned to Lars Porsena's camp. Cloelia's bravery so impressed Lars Porsena that he treated her with great respect and gave her a privileged position in the court for the time she was there. She was even rewarded with a beautiful horse. And after a short while, Lars Porsena told Cloelia that she could return to Rome, and even better, she could take half the hostages back with her, and she could choose whomever she wanted to bring back to Rome with her. Cloelia chose the youngest sons of Rome, the young boys who were most in danger of the depredations of a foreign city. And when she got back to Rome, Cloelia was commended for her bravery, her cleverness, and her impeccable decision-making. After she got back to Rome, a new peace was established between the Romans and the Etruscans of Clusium, and the Romans decided that this new kind of bravery deserved a new kind of statue. So in her honor, the Romans built an equestrian statue, a maiden seated upon a horse, and they put it in a place of honor at the summit of the Sacred Way. But the tale of Cloelia is not the end of the story between Lars Porsena and Rome. With the siege of Rome lifted, Porsena didn't want to return to Clusium without any spoils or plunder of war to give to his soldiers. It would be a bad look for the great warrior-king of Clusium to return to his home city with no spoils of war or plunder. So Porsena divided his army and sent half of it to attack another city under his son's command. Porsena's son was killed in battle, and the army was routed there. But a small number of that Etruscan army sought refuge in Rome, and the Romans welcomed them into the city. The Romans took the Etruscans into their own homes and quartered them for as long as they needed to recover from their wounds. Some of the Etruscans were even persuaded to stay in Rome and become part of the city's life, while others, after they had recovered from their wounds, returned to Clusium and told stories of the amazing Roman kindness and hospitality. Naturally, Lars Porsena heard about this from his soldiers and created a new affection between the Roman people and the people of Clusium. So when Tarquin the Proud tried yet one more time the next year to convince Lars Porsena to lead another army against Rome, Lars Porsena dismissed him. By this point, Lars Porsena was more than sick of Tarquin the Proud, and we're told that Tarquin the Proud lived out his remaining years in exile, and the Romans and the Etruscans of Clusium enjoyed an unbroken peace for many years afterward. The Roman Republic was finally safe, at least temporarily, from external threats. But the story of the early days of the Roman Republic is far from neat and tidy. As even Livy, the recorder of these early stories of the Roman Republic, notes, there's some inconsistencies in these stories, and there's a good chance that the departure of Lars Porsena from the siege of Rome wasn't as amicable as we're told in these mythological stories. And in the two decades that followed the expulsion of kings, the Roman Republic was far from settled. In just a few short years, Rome would appoint its first dictator and would make war frequently on its neighbors. And the new Republic would be absolutely wracked by class conflict and power imbalances and disorder. Every year, it seemed, brought new challenges and trials to the young Republic. So in an upcoming video, I'm thinking about taking another more critical look at these early stories of the Roman Republic and seeing if we can filter out some truths and insights from these mostly mythical tales. So if you learned something from this video, or you just enjoyed this retelling of the early stories of the Roman Republic, I hope you'll like and subscribe so you don't miss future videos on the ancient world. And it'll also help us share our passion and excitement with ancient history with even more people. My name is Jay, and I'll see you next time.