Livy- character explanation

background of rome?

rome is under threat from porsenna, who is trying to restore the exiled king- tarquinius superbus

who is gaius mucius?

a young roman noble who volunteers to sneak into the camp of the enemy and kill porsenna

what does mucius do as a whole?

-mucius sneaks into the camo, but accidentally kills the king’s scribe, not porsenna (the king)

-he’s caught and brought to the king

-to show his courage, he says that there is a long line of men after him wishing to do the same

-then, in a shocking move, he thrusts his right hand into a fire and holds it there without flinching, to prove his bravery

-amazed by his courage, porsenna lets him go, and mucius earns the nickname ‘scaevola’ which meanings ‘lefty’ because he lost the use of his right hand

what is cloelia’s role in the text?

-as part of peace negotiations, rome gives hostages to porsenna- one of them is cloelia, a young roman girl

-she manages to escape from the etruscan camp, leads of group of roman maidens, and swims across the tiber river back to rome

-porsenna was impressed again by this, not angry- he demands the return of cloelia, but then allows her to choose half of the hostages to be freed

-cloelia chose to free the young boys, who are the most vunerable in war