back word: the bridge 257

shifting their support to his rival: “in unison the people shouted that
Constantine could not be conquered.” In addition, the senators who
inspected the Sibylline books offered what Maxentius understood to
be a favorable oracle. So he marched out to the battle. After he crossed
the Tiber, “the bridge was severed behind him.”7
A famous episode in Roman historical mythology may also have
influenced Maxentius. Long ago at the end of the sixth century b.c.
an ally of the last king of Rome had been prevented from entering the
city by the stubborn defiance of a single Roman soldier. According to
legend, first with a few companions, then single-handedly, Horatius
Cocles had defended the Sublician Bridge. Once his comrades had
destroyed the bridge behind him, Horatius jumped into the Tiber and
swam to safety. Through his heroism he had saved the new Republic.
In his honor the people erected a statue, located adjacent to the Forum.
This statue of Horatius remained on view for centuries.8
During the late Republic and the early empire the valor of Horatius
was a standard archetype. In one of his philosophical treatises Cicero
hailed Horatius as an exemplar of courage. In his great epic poem about
the founding of the Roman state, Virgil included the moment when
“[Horatius] Cocles dared to cut the bridge” as one important episode
in a short summary of “Italian affairs and the triumphs of Romans.”
The poet Propertius cited Horatius’ defense of the bridge to reassure
the people of Rome about their security: “the gods built these walls,
and the gods are also defending them.”9
The legend of Horatius lived on in late antiquity. In 313 an orator ref-
erenced Horatius in a panegyric before Constantine. A fourth-century
compilation of biographies of great heroes from the Republic and
empire summarized the story and mentioned the statue. In the early

7
God: Panegyrici latini 4(10).28.1. Lactantius, De mortibus persecutorum 44.7, deserter, in
unison, 9, bridge.
8
Horatius at the bridge, statue in Comitium: Livy, Ab urbe condita 2.10. Statue: Pliny the
Elder, Historia naturalis 34.11.22.
9
Cicero, De officiis 1.18.61. Virgil, Aeneis 8.626, Italian affairs, 650, bridge. Propertius, Elegi
3.11.63, bridge, 65, walls, with Roller (2004) 10–28, on Horatius as a model for imitation
during the late Republic and early empire.