Brief Past

After having been defeated by Orazio Coclite, Porsenna did not surrender and besieged Rome for such a long time that its end was near.
One night a young Roman, Caio Marzio, desguised as an Etruscan soldier, entered the enemy camp to kill the king.
He entered one wrong tent and killed his officer. He was arrested and led in front of Porsenna; he bravely put his right hand on a brazier saying:- I was going to kill you for the freedom of Rome. My hand made a mistake and now I punish it. But remember King! There are another three hundred young Romans ready to kill you!-
Porsenna astonished by his courage, accepted the peace and raised the siege.
Caio Marzio was called Scevola, which means left-handed and considered as a hero by the Romans.

It was already daybreak, when nine girls, hostages of Porsenna reached the Tiber.
They had walked all night long to move away from the enemy camp, and now they were finally near Rome. On the other side of the road, they saw some lights, perhaps the torches of the Roman sentries. The only bridge on the Tiber, the Sublicio, had been destroyed when Orazio fought agaisnt the Etruscan soldiers.
- We must swim across the river – Clelia said to her friends.
- Do you feel up to it? -
They all said yes, even the youngest ones, they wanted to show courage.
If Clelia had been so clever to take them there, they would have followed her everywhere. One by one the nine girls jumped on the cold water and swam to the other bank. A sentry saw them and took the drum to give the alarm. Immediately the river bank was full of soldiers ready to face the enemy with their swords but to their great astonishment, they realized that were girls.The young girls told the soldiers they had escaped from Porsenna who kept them as hostages. Read the rest of this entry »

The Gauls had besieged the town. The defenders soon suffered from hunger. Many times, looking at the geese which lived in the temple of Juno, they thought to relieve the pains of hunger by killing them. But they were sacred to Juno and it would have been a sacrilege.
One night a valiant soldier, Marco Manlio, who was sleeping near the temple, heard a strange noise that woke him up. He took his sword and jumped up. He soon understood that the geese were fluttering. Manlio ran along the top of the wall, looked down… and he found himself face to face with a Gaul.
The enemies were just attempting an attack. Some of them were going to climb over the walls to enter the fortress. Manlio rapidly took the Gaul by the arm and threw him down the rock. He began shouting and the noise of the geese grew louder and louder.
In few minutes all the soldiers woke up and armed themselves, ready for the defence. Shouting the valiant defenders run to the walls. The Gaul attack failed and they were defeated.

The Carthaginians who wanted to rapidly end the war, thought to send Regolo back to Rome to propose a peace treaty .
The terms were clear: he should come back to Carthage if he had not obtained the desidered peace.
Once arrived in Rome, Attilio Regolo urged the Senate to continue the war because he was sure that Carthage could not hold out long. The valiant consul could have stayed in Rome but to keep his word, even if with the enemy, he went back to Carthage, where a sure death waited him. To his friends and relatives who prayed him to stay, he answered that a Roman could not break his word.
Back in Carthage, the Carthaginians knowing that he had told the Romans to continue the war, were not moved by his loyalty. They made him tumble down a rock inside a barrel spiked with nails. The war went on and Rome won.

It was the 27 October 312 d.C. evening. The Tiber flowed against the colomns of the Ponte Milvio, dividing the camps of the two enemy emperors.
In one of the camps, Massenzio, big and wild, controlled the army (that the day after would have to fighthe decisive battle) and spured them on to violence and braveness.
In the other camp, Costantine thought in front of the tent; his legionaries all over the camp, prepared their arrows and javelins.
Costantine observed the sky, that was becoming golden. Suddenly, in that gold, a cross brightened and, on the cross, with flamed letters, there was written: “With this sign you’ll win” (In hoc signo vinces).
The young Emperor jumped and opened his arms surprised; and when the cross disappeared, he covered his face with his hands and remembered all his childhood lived with his christian mother; and he remembered that all his legionaries were secretely christians.
Costantine called his men and told them that on the battle day, next to the roman eagle, the flag with the cross would wave. A murmur of surprise ran through the legionaries but then it became a cry of joy. The dawn of the day after saw the two armies facing each other, on the two ends of Ponte Milvio . The flags and shields of the armies of Costantine, brightly displayed the cross. The holy sign inspired great pride in the Roman troups as they took the bridge and defeated the Massenzio’s army.
Costantine won under the cross sign. Claimed Emperor, he entered in Rome triumphanlly. A great arch was built to honour him. You can still admire it next to the Colosseum, today.

To enter Rome it was necessary to cross the river passing on the only bridge the Romans had built: Ponte Sublicio. The soldiers of Porsenna were going to cross it, when among the Romans a young man shouted:- Cut the bridge!-.
It was Orazio Coclite. He advanced alone on the bridge facing the Etruscans with incredible courage, and blocked their way through. Behind him the Romans pulled down the bridge. Suddenly, a crash of broken beams was heard, the bridge collapsed sweeping Orazio and the Etruscan soldiers away.
The Roman was a good swimmer and saved himself reaching the banks of the free Rome. But Porsenna did not withdraw and besieged the town, in the hope that the Romans would surrender to avoid starvation.

While Tullio Ostilio ruled, the war between Rome and Albalonga began. However there was no fighting.
As a matter of fact, to avoid great bloodshed, it was decided that three champions from Alba would have to fight against three champions from Rome. The Romans choosed the three Horatian brothers, the Albans the three Curiatian brothers.
They fought the strange duel, in the vast field, between the two armies. At first the duel was not propitious for the three Romans, as a matter of fact, two of them died, while two of the three Albans were only hurt. Then the Horatian thought of a trick: he couldn’t fight them all together, alone, so he pretended to run away, and he was followed by the faster unhurt Curiatian. Suddenly the Roman turned and killed the first enemy to be persued by the second Alban whom he also killed. Then to the exultation of the Roman army the Horatian killed the final enemy. Then he run away again and thus reached by the second Alban, once again. At least, with the exultation of the Roman army, the Horatian killed the last enemy, too.
From that moment, the city of Albalonga, with its possessions, joined the roman power.

Many writers have told the story of the twins. Gustavo Brigante Colonna, made a beautiful tale of it. In fact he tells that near the Tiber banks, an old shepherd and his wife, Faustolo e Laurenzia, lived in a poor shed.

One evening atired Faustolo was sitting near the shed door and Laurenzia was preparing a frugal meal. Suddenly they heard a rustle coming from the woods. Near the river a dark shadow slid down the bank.
Faustolo decided to go and see what had happened. He told his wife to wait for him. He moved forward with caution, because the ground near the river was full of puddles because of the recent rains. In one of these puddles at the foot of a tree, Faustolo saw a big she-wolf lying down on one side with two children sucking her milk.
He thought he was dreaming. He went back to the shed and told his astonished wife about the she-wolf and the twins, and then he took her to the river. Some time later the two children, were sleeping in Faustolo and Laurenzias warm shed. Here they grew up and became two strong boys, a little savage but good boys. Faustolo called them Romulus and Remus; they respected him as a father. Everyday they went farther and farther from the shed to seek adventure…… Read the rest of this entry »

After the foundation of the town, the problem was to people it. Romulus gathered the local shepherds but there were no women. What could he do?
He thought to organize a feast, and invited the Sabines with their wives and daughters.
During the feast, at a given sign, the young Romans kidnapped the women and put to flight the men.But some time later the Sabines, lead by Titus Tazio king of Curiti a Sabine tribe,came back to free their women and to take revenge for the insult.
A young girl,Tarpea, opened the town gates to the Sabines: but she immediately paid for her deed with a terrible death. She was crushed by the shields of the Roman soldiers. Future generations gave her name to the Tarpeian rock. From this rock it became practice to throw down all the people condemned to death.
The Sabines entered the town, and fought against the enemy warriors; but as soon as the battle began, the women intervened to ask for an armistice. Many young girls had fallen in love with the young Romans and could not accept to see their fathers and husbands fighting. The peace was restored: Romulus and Titus Tazio ruled the town together; Sabines and Romans became one people.

About three thousand years ago, ships, that had been sailing for a long time searching a landing place, sighted a land.The men on those ships were the only survivors of a terrible fire that after a long war had destroyed their town.
They were sad and tired, they had been wondering for years longing for rest and peace….. and here now a welcoming land was in front of them.
They landed at a place where a river flowed into the sea blending its tumultuous yellow waters with the blue waves. So they were enthusiastic when their leader ordered them to land.

The men who finally touched land were Trojans. They had landed in Lazio on the banks of the river Tiber led by the brave hero Aeneas.
While Troy was falling under the Greek assault, he saved his father and his little son. Unfortunately his father died during the voyage.
The life and deeds of Aeneas are wonderfully told in the Aeneid, written by the great poet Virgil, here we record the most important episodes essential to the study of Roman history.
In those times, Lazio was already peopled by several tribes: Etruscans, Volscians, Sabines, Rutuli and Ausones.
The Latins were the most important population settled in a group of organised cities along the Tiber banks.
The Troians got soon in touch with these people and with their King, the wise Latin. He warmly welcomed them, gave them hospitality and some time later he gave his daughter Lavinia to Aeneas as his wife. She had been previously bethroted to Turno, the king of Rutuli who declared war on Latin for the offense.
It was a terrible war that ended with a duel between Aeneas and Turno. The latter died. A long period of peace followed during which Aeneas founded aTown, Lavinium, to honour his wife. His son Ascanio founded another town called Albalonga.
Many years after the death of Ascanio, the good Numitore became king. But he had a very evil and envious brother, called Amulio who wanted to rule. For this reason he imprisoned Numitore and forced his daughter Rea Silvia to become a priest.
Amulio felt safe and secure. He had ruled for a long period when some time later the god Mars sent two twins to Rea Silvia, Romulus and Remus. Amulio ordered that they be killed them immedately. But he was destined to be punished. The servant ordered to committ the cruel act, had not the heart to commit such a murder. Instead he put the two little brothers in a wicker basket and abandoned them on the Tiber waters, with the hope that someone could save them. And they were saved.