Cloelia

Roman A heroine of early Rome. Her story is told by many historians and poets, though some of the details vary. Cloelia was a Roman citizen taken hostage with a group of others by Lars Porsenna, the legendary leader of the people of Etruria who laid siege to Rome in 509 b.c. One day, Cloelia gathered a group of young women together and went to bathe in the river. She convinced the guards to turn their backs while the women unclothed. Then the women hurried into the water and swam across the river while the guards hurled spears at them. The women safely reached the shore held by Roman forces and Cloelia received great honors for her courage. Lars Porsenna protested the escape as a violation of the truce and Cloelia 35 the Romans returned all of the women. However, Porsenna changed his mind and admitted that Cloelia was very brave and granted freedom to her and a group of hostages (whom she would choose). Cloelia chose the boys who had not yet reached puberty, arguing that her reputation and their safety at the hands of their captors made them the only group she could take with her. The Romans honored Cloelia's loyalty to the city and its people by dedicating in her honor a statue of a horse. These events supposedly happened early in Rome's history, but the story of Cloelia survived for centuries as a symbol of loyalty and courage as the city-state expanded into an empire. Some scholars and historians said the Romans invented the story to explain the dedication of the equestrian statue after people had forgotten why it was dedicated to someone named Cloelia.