Horatius whose sons are depicted in
The Oath of the Horatii is also the subject of a very popular poem from
Lays of Ancient Rome by
Thomas Babington Macaulay . He is a legendary
Roman hero who along with a duo of companions held the
Etruscan army at bay while the Roman army destroyed the
Sublician Bridge. With the connecting westward road to Rome gone
Horatius swam the
Tiber River and ariived safley home. Rome rewarded his
heroism by giving him as much land as he could plow in a day.
To every man upon this earth
Death cometh soon or late.
And how can man die better
Than facing fearful odds,
For the ashes of his fathers,
And the temples of his Gods ...
-- Horatius --