Online Encyclopedia

Search over 40,000 articles from the original, classic Encyclopedia Britannica, 11th Edition.

HORATII

Online Encyclopedia
Originally appearing in Volume V13, Page 692 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
» Make a correction to this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Spread the word: del.icio.us del.icio.us it!

HORATII and CURIATII, in See also:

Roman See also:legend, two sets of three See also:brothers See also:born at one See also:birth on the same See also:day—the former Roman, the latter See also:Alban—the mothers being twin sisters. During the See also:war between See also:Rome and See also:Alba Longa it was agreed that the issue should depend on a combat between the two families. Two of the Horatii were soon slain; the third See also:brother feigned See also:flight, and when the Curiatii, who were all wounded, pursued him without See also:concert he slew them one by one. When he entered Rome in See also:triumph, his See also:sister recognized a cloak which he was wearing as a See also:trophy as one she had herself made for her See also:lover, one of the Curiatii. She thereupon invoked a curse upon her brother, who slew her on the spot. Horatius was condemned to be scourged to See also:death, but on his appealing to the See also:people his See also:life was spared (See also:Livy i. 25, 26; See also:Dion. Halic. iii. 13-22). Monuments of the tragic See also:story were shown by the See also:Romans in the See also:time of Livy (the See also:altar of See also:Janus Curiatius near the sororium tigillum, the " sister's See also:beam," or yoke under which Horatius had to pass; and the altar of See also:Juno Sororia). The legend was probably invented to See also:account for the origin of the provocatio (right of See also:appeal to the people), while at the same time it points to the See also:close connexion and final struggle for supremacy between the older See also:city on the See also:mountain and the younger city on the See also:plain. Their relationship and origin from three tribes are symbolically represented by the twin sisters and the two sets of three brothers.

For a See also:

critical examination of the story, see See also:Schwegler, Romische Geschichte, bk. xii. ii. 14; See also:Sir G. Cornewall See also:Lewis, Credibility of See also:Early Roman See also:History, ch. xi. 15; W. Ihne, Hist. of Rome, i.; E. Pais, Storia di See also:Roma, i. ch. 3 (1898), and See also:Ancient Legends of Roman History (Eng. trans., 1906), where the story is connected with the ceremonies performed in See also:honour of See also:Jupiter Tigillus and Juno Sororia; C. See also:Pascal, Fatti e legende di Roma antica (See also:Florence, 1903); 0. See also:Gilbert. Geschichte and Topographie der Stadt Rom See also:im Altertum (1883-1885).

End of Article: HORATII

Additional information and Comments

There are no comments yet for this article.
» Add information or comments to this article.
Please link directly to this article:
Highlight the code below, right click, and select "copy." Then paste it into your website, email, or other HTML.
Site content, images, and layout Copyright © 2006 - Net Industries, worldwide.
Do not copy, download, transfer, or otherwise replicate the site content in whole or in part.

Links to articles and home page are always encouraged.

[back]
HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.) 		[next]
HORATIUS COCLES

Site © 2006 - Net Industries