Cloelia
A Roman virgin, given as a hostage to Porsenna. According to the old Roman legend, when
Porsenna and the Romans made a peace after the affair of Mucius
Scaevola (q.v.), the latter people gave hostages to the
king—ten youths and ten maidens, children of noble parents—as a pledge
that they would truly keep the peace which had been proclaimed. It happened, as the camp of
the Etrurians was near the Tiber, that Cloelia, one of the maidens, escaped with her
companions and fled to the brink of the river; and, as the Etrurians pursued them, they all
rushed into the water and swam in safety across the stream. But the Romans, jealous of their
reputation for good faith, sent them all back to the camp of Porsenna. Not to be outdone in
generosity, the monarch gave her and her female companions their freedom, and permitted her to
take with her half of the youths; whereupon, with the delicacy of a Roman maiden, she selected
those only who were of tender years. The Romans raised an equestrian statue in her honour on
the highest part of the Via Sacra (
Liv.ii. 13). There is another
story, that Tarquinius fell upon the hostages as they were conducted into the Etrurian camp,
and with the exception of Valeria, who fled back to the city, massacred them all (
Plin.xxxiv. 13).
