Porsena
or
Porsenna,
Lars. A king of the Etruscan town of Clusium, who
marched against Rome at the head of a vast army, in order to restore Tarquinius Superbus to
the throne. He took possession of the hill Ianiculum, and would have entered the city by the
bridge which connected Rome with the Ianiculum, had it not been for the superhuman prowess of
Horatius Cocles, who kept the whole Etruscan army at bay while his comrades broke down the
bridge behind him. (See
Cocles.) The Etruscans
proceeded to lay siege to the city, which soon began to suffer from famine. Thereupon a young
Roman, named C. Mucius, resolved to deliver his country by murdering the invading king. He
accordingly went over to the Etruscan camp, but, ignorant of the person of Porsena, killed the
royal secretary instead. Seized, and threatened with torture, he thrust his right hand into
the fire on the altar, and there let it burn, to show how little he heeded pain. Astonished at
his courage, the king bade him depart in peace; and Scaevola, as he was henceforward
called, told him, out of gratitude, to make peace with Rome, since three hundred noble youths
had sworn to take the life of the king, and he was the first upon whom the lot had fallen.
Porsena thereupon made peace with the Romans and withdrew his troops from the Ianiculum after
receiving twenty hostages from the Romans. Such was the tale by which Roman vanity concealed
one of the earliest and greatest disasters of the city (
Livy, ii.
9-15). The real fact is, that Rome was completely conquered by Porsena. This is
expressly stated by Tacitus (
Hist. iii. 72), and is confirmed by other writers (
Dionys. v. 34). Pliny tells us that so thorough was the subjection of the Romans that
they were expressly prohibited from using iron for any other purpose but agriculture (
H. N. xxxiv. 139). The Romans, however, did not long remain subject to
the Etruscans. After the conquest of Rome, Aruns, the son of Porsena, proceeded to attack
Aricia, but was defeated before the city by the united forces of the Latin cities, assisted by
the Greeks of Cumae. The Etruscans appear, in consequence, to have been confined to their own
territory on the right bank of the Tiber, and the Romans to have availed themselves of the
opportunity to recover their independence. Remains of the magnificent tomb of Porsena still
exist at Chiusi, the ancient Clusium. See
Tarquinius.
