Cloelia
Encyclopedia
Cloelia is a semi-legendary
woman from the early history of ancient Rome
.
As part of the peace treaty which ended the war between Rome and Clusium in 508 BC, Roman hostages were taken by Lars Porsena
. One of the hostages, a young woman named Cloelia, fled the Clusian camp, leading away a group of Roman virgins. According to Valerius Maximus
, she fled upon a horse, then swam across the Tiber
. Porsena demanded that she be returned, and the Romans consented. Upon her return, however, Porsena was so impressed by her bravery that he allowed her to choose half the remaining hostages to be freed. She selected the young Roman boys, so that they could continue the war.
The Romans gave Cloelia an honour usually reserved for men: an equestrian statue, located at the top of the Via Sacra
.
(1762) by Pietro Metastasio.
Roman mythology
Roman mythology is the body of traditional stories pertaining to ancient Rome's legendary origins and religious system, as represented in the literature and visual arts of the Romans...
woman from the early history of ancient Rome
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
.
As part of the peace treaty which ended the war between Rome and Clusium in 508 BC, Roman hostages were taken by Lars Porsena
Lars Porsena
Lars Porsena, in Etruscan Pursenas, was an Etruscan king known for his war against the city of Rome. He ruled over the city of Clusium...
. One of the hostages, a young woman named Cloelia, fled the Clusian camp, leading away a group of Roman virgins. According to Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus
Valerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, she fled upon a horse, then swam across the Tiber
Tiber
The Tiber is the third-longest river in Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Umbria and Lazio to the Tyrrhenian Sea. It drains a basin estimated at...
. Porsena demanded that she be returned, and the Romans consented. Upon her return, however, Porsena was so impressed by her bravery that he allowed her to choose half the remaining hostages to be freed. She selected the young Roman boys, so that they could continue the war.
The Romans gave Cloelia an honour usually reserved for men: an equestrian statue, located at the top of the Via Sacra
Via Sacra
The Via Sacra was the main street of ancient Rome, leading from the top of the Capitoline Hill, through some of the most important religious sites of the Forum , to the Colosseum....
.
Il trionfo di Clelia
The story of Lars Porsena and the Roman hostage Cloelia is the basis of the libretto Il trionfo di CleliaIl trionfo di Clelia
Il trionfo di Clelia is an 18th-century Italian opera in three acts by the Czech composer Josef Mysliveček composed to a libretto by the Italian poet Metastasio. It was common in the 1760s for composers to set Metastasian texts written decades before...
(1762) by Pietro Metastasio.
Sources
- LivyLivyTitus Livius — known as Livy in English — was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people. Ab Urbe Condita Libri, "Chapters from the Foundation of the City," covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC...
, Ab urbe conditaAb Urbe condita (book)Ab urbe condita libri — often shortened to Ab urbe condita — is a monumental history of ancient Rome written in Latin sometime between 27 and 25 BC by the historian Titus Livius. The work covers the time from the stories of Aeneas, the earliest legendary period from before the city's founding in c....
, 2.13 - Valerius MaximusValerius MaximusValerius Maximus was a Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes. He worked during the reign of Tiberius .-Biography:...
, Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium, 3.2.2