or PORSENNA, LARS, king of the Etruscan town of Clusium, plays an important part in one of the Roman wars as narrated by Livy. Espousing the cause of the expelled Roman monarch Tarquinius the Proud, he advanced southward towards the banks of the Tiber at the head of a formidable army. The terrified rustics fled before him, carrying the news of his approach to the Roman forces on the Janiculum; the Roman forces at his first appearance retreated in panic across the Poas Sublucis; and the capture of the city seemed to be already within his reach. Yet at this juncture he began to find that although he could overwhelm the collected strength of Rome, he was no match for the indomitable spirit that animated each individual of the race. Horatius Cocles, bringing up the rear of the fugitives, stopped up the entrance to the bridges with his body; kept back the pressing pursuers with the prowess of his single arm; and not until his countrymen had all crossed, and the bridge had been broken down behind him, did he throw himself into the Tiber and swim to the other side amidst a continuous shower of arrows. The enemy was thus compelled to sit down on the further side of the river, and turn the attack into a blockade. But even in that safe position, and in the character of a conqueror and besieger, the king was again destined to be foiled by a simple citizen of Rome. One day, as he was sitting in his tent surrounded by attendants, his secretary was struck down by his side. The assassin was seized, and was discovered to be a Roman in disguise. On being arraigned, he fearlessly confessed that his name was Caius Mucius; that he had come with the intent of slaying the king, but had mistaken his victim; and that there were many other youths in Rome who had sworn to repeat, if necessary, the same attempt. On being threatened with torture, he thrust his hand in among the live coals on the altar, held up his flaming fingers before them, and told them to try torture if they thought it could have any effect. The king, despairing of conquering a state which contained such citizens as Caius Mucius and Horatius Cocles, immediately came to terms with the besieged. The Romans agreed to restore the land which they had taken from the Veientines, and Porsena receiving hostages, raised the blockade, and returned to Clusium.

This story of Porsena, however, receives from other authors a colouring considerably different from that which Livy gives it. Tacitus relates that the city was actually captured. Pliny gives us to understand that the citizens were so thoroughly crushed, that they durst not use iron for any other purpose than agriculture. From Dionysius of Halicarnassus we infer that the Romans sent to the Etruscan king, as an acknowledgment of their vassalage, an ivory throne, and other insignia of royalty. Taking the combined evidence of those writers, as well as additional grounds, Niebuhr and other modern historians conclude, that Porsena really subdued the Romans, and instead of receiving the territory of the Veientines by negotiation, actually wrested it with the strong hand of a conqueror.