Lars Porsena, in Etruscan Pursenas, (sometimes spelled Lars Porsenna) was an Etruscan king known for his war against the city of Rome. He ruled over the city of Clusium (Etruscan: Clevsin). There are no established dates for his rule, but Roman sources often place the war at around 508 BC.
Contents |
Lars Porsena came into conflict with Rome after the revolution which overthrew the monarchy of Rome in 509 BC, resulting in the exile of the semi-legendary last king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus[1] The deposed monarch, whose family was of Etruscan origin, had failed to retake the throne a number of times before he appealed to Porsena for assistance.[2] Lars Porsena agreed to help.[3] It is said that Clusium was, at the time, a very powerful Etruscan city.[4]
At this point, however, there is divergence in the histories. According to most mainstream Roman accounts, including those of Livy, Lars Porsena attacked and besieged Rome, but was sufficiently impressed by particular acts of Roman bravery in defending the city that he chose to make peace.[5] Other accounts, however, suggest that Lars Porsena actually succeeded in subduing the city, and that the Etruscans were only driven out some time afterwards.[6] None of the accounts suggests that Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was returned to the throne, however, perhaps indicating that if Lars Porsena did indeed capture Rome, he did so with the intent of controlling it himself, not restoring the former dynasty.[1][7]
The accounts of the war include a number of matters directly concerning Porsena. One story is that during Porsena's siege of Rome, a Roman youth called Gaius Mucius with the approval of the senate sneaked into the Etruscan camp with the intent of assassinating Porsena. However, when Mucius came close to the king, he could not tell apart the king from his secretary, and killed the king's secretary in error. Mucius was captured by the Etruscans, and brought before Porsena. He openly declared his identity and what had been his intent. He threatened that he was but merely the first of three hundred Roman youths who would attempt such a deed. To prove his valour, Mucius thrust his hand into one of the Etruscan camp fires, thereby earning for himself and his descendants the cognomen Scaevola. Porsena was shocked at the attempt, and dismissed Mucius from the camp. According to Livy, it was immediately after this event that the king sought peace by treaty.[8]
Another tale of the war concerns the Roman hostages taken by Porsena as part of the treaty. One of the hostages, a young woman named Cloelia, fled the Etruscan camp, leading away a group of Roman virgins. Porsena demanded she be returned, and the Romans consented. Upon her return, however, Porsena being impressed by her bravery allowed her to choose half the remaining hostages to be freed. She selected from amongst the hostages the young Roman boys to be freed. The Romans honoured Cloelia with the unusual honour of a statue at the top of the Via Sacra, showing Cloelia mounted on a horse, that is as an eques. [9]
Livy also recounts that during his own time, public auctions of goods at Rome were by tradition referred to as "selling the goods of king Porsena", and that this somehow relates to the war with Clusium. Livy concludes most likely it is because, when Porsena departed Rome, he left behind as a gift for the Romans his stores of provisions.[10]
In 507 BC Porsena once again sent ambassadors to the Roman senate, requesting the restoration of Tarquinius to the throne. Legates were sent back to Porsena, to advise him that the Romans would never re-admit Tarquinius, and that Porsena should out of respect for the Romans cease requesting Tarquinius' readmittance. Porsena agreed, telling Tarquinius to continue his exile elsewhere than Clusium. Porsena also restored to the Romans their hostages, and also the lands of Veii that had been taken from Rome by treaty. Livy records that, by these matters, a faithful peace between Porsena and Rome was created. [11]
In 508 BC, after the siege of Rome, Porsena spilt his forces and sent part of the Clusian army with his son Aruns to besiege the Latin city of Aricia. The Clusians besieged Aricia; however the Aricians sent for assistance from the Latin League and from Cumae, and the Clusian army was defeated in battle[12]
According to most accounts, Lars Porsena was buried in an elaborate tomb in (or under) the city he ruled. Porsena's tomb is described as having a 15 m high rectangular base with sides 90 m long. It was adorned by pyramids and massive bells. (Pliny the elder, Natural History, XXXVI, 19, 91ff.)
Lars Porsena's tomb, together with the rest of the city of Clusium, was razed to the ground in 89 BC by the Roman general Cornelius Sulla.
The story of Lars Porsenna and the Roman hostage Cloelia is the basis of the libretto Il trionfo di Clelia (1762) by Pietro Metastasio.
Lays of Ancient Rome (1842) by Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859) tells the legendary story of the Roman Horatius defending the bridge into Rome against Lars Porsena's oncoming Etruscan army.