Titus Herminius Aquilinus
Encyclopedia
Titus Herminius, surnamed Aquilinus, was one of the heroes of the Roman Republic
. He participated in two of the most famous conflicts that attended the birth of the Republic, and was elected consul
in 506 BC. However, his greatest fame was won as one of the defenders of the Sublician bridge
against the army of Lars Porsena
, the King of Clusium
.
, and they were one of the few Roman gentes
to use distinctly Etruscan praenomina
; Lars Herminius
held the consulship in 448 BC. However, in the legend of the Sublician bridge, Titus Herminius may have represented the Sabine element of the Roman people.
from Rome in 509 BC, Lars Porsena, the King of Clusium, resolved to conquer Rome, either to restore the Etruscan monarchy, or possibly for himself. The following year he went to war with Rome, and advanced with his army upon the city. After successfully capturing those parts of the city on the Etruscan side of the Tiber
, including the Janiculum
, the Clusian army approached the Pons Sublicius, a wooden bridge leading into the city proper. The Roman forces withdrew to the eastern side of the river, as engineers began the work of destroying the bridge's supports. Three Romans remained on the bridge to fend off the Etruscans: Publius Horatius Cocles, Spurius Lartius
, and Herminius.
Niebuhr
suggests a symbolic importance to these three men: each represented one of the three ancient tribes making up the Roman populace: the Ramnes, or Latins
, represented by Horatius; the Titienses, or Sabines, represented by Herminius, and the Luceres, or Etruscans, represented by Lartius.
The bridge was too narrow for more than a few of the approaching army to advance upon its defenders at once, and according to the legend, they held their ground until the bridge was about to collapse. Horatius then urged his colleagues to retreat to safety, leaving him alone on the bridge. There he remained, fighting off one attacker after another, until the bridge at last gave way and plunged into the river. Horatius then jumped into the river. Accounts vary as to whether Horatius survived and swam to shore, or was drowned in the Tiber; in most accounts he survived, but according to Polybius
, he defended the bridge alone, and perished in the river.
Lartius and Herminius appear again in the war with Clusium, commanding troops as part of a trap devised by the consul Publius Valerius Publicola
to capture Etruscan raiding parties.
to fill the gap of one year (perhaps due to Lars Porsena holding the city). Their successors sent a delegation to meet with the envoys of Porsena, and established a treaty, by which the Etruscan King gave up his claims to Rome.
. Many of the Latin towns had been allies of Rome during the final days of the Roman monarchy
; some continued this alliance, while others sided with the Tarquins
, who sought to regain the throne. The Latin league was led by Octavius Mamilius
, a prince of Tusculum
, and the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome. To meet the Latin army, the Romans appointed a dictator
, Aulus Postumius Albus
, and his magister equitum
, Titus Aebutius Elva
. Herminius was a general officer in the Roman expeditionary force, which encountered the army near Lake Regillus.
During the course of the battle, Aebutius, the magister equitum, spotted Mamilius and engaged him on horseback. The two men met with great fury, and each suffered serious injuries. Aebutius was forced to retire from the battle, and direct his cavalry from a distance, while Mamilius was taken to the rear. The Latin commander returned to the fray in order to save a company of Roman exiles, who were about to be cut off by Postumius, and in so doing he was recognized by Herminius.
In the ensuing charge, described by the historian Livius
as occurring with even greater ferocity than the clash with Aebutius, Herminius killed the Latin dictator with a single thrust through the body. He then stooped to strip the armor from the fallen prince, but was mortally wounded by a javelin. He was carried living to the rear, but he died as his wounds were being dressed.
, the most famous of which is Horatius.
Roman Republic
The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization where the government operated as a republic. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, traditionally dated around 508 BC, and its replacement by a government headed by two consuls, elected annually by the citizens and...
. He participated in two of the most famous conflicts that attended the birth of the Republic, and was elected consul
Roman consul
A consul served in the highest elected political office of the Roman Republic.Each year, two consuls were elected together, to serve for a one-year term. Each consul was given veto power over his colleague and the officials would alternate each month...
in 506 BC. However, his greatest fame was won as one of the defenders of the Sublician bridge
Pons Sublicius
The earliest known bridge of ancient Rome, Italy, the Pons Sublicius, spanned the Tiber River near the Forum Boarium downstream from the Tiber Island, near the foot of the Aventine Hill. According to tradition, its construction was ordered by Ancus Martius around 642 BC, but this date is...
against the army of 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...
, the King of Clusium
Clusium
Clusium was an ancient city in Italy, one of several found at the site. The current municipality of Chiusi partly overlaps this Roman walled city. The Roman city remodeled an earlier Etruscan city, Clevsin, found in the territory of a prehistoric culture, possibly also Etruscan or proto-Etruscan...
.
Background
The Herminii were a patrician family at Rome during the early years of the Republic. The Romans themselves regarded the family as EtruscanEtruscan civilization
Etruscan civilization is the modern English name given to a civilization of ancient Italy in the area corresponding roughly to Tuscany. The ancient Romans called its creators the Tusci or Etrusci...
, and they were one of the few Roman gentes
Gens
In ancient Rome, a gens , plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps . The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the...
to use distinctly Etruscan praenomina
Praenomen
The praenomen was a personal name chosen by the parents of a Roman child. It was first bestowed on the dies lustricus , the eighth day after the birth of a girl, or the ninth day after the birth of a boy...
; Lars Herminius
Lars Herminius Aquilinus
Lars Herminius Aquilinus was consul in 448 BC with Titus Verginius Tricostus Caeliomontanus. Their year of office was relatively peaceful, as neither consul took sides in the conflict between the patricians and the plebeians....
held the consulship in 448 BC. However, in the legend of the Sublician bridge, Titus Herminius may have represented the Sabine element of the Roman people.
War with Clusium
Following the expulsion of the king Lucius Tarquinius SuperbusLucius Tarquinius Superbus
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the legendary seventh and final King of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is more commonly known by his cognomen Tarquinius Superbus and was a member of the so-called Etruscan...
from Rome in 509 BC, Lars Porsena, the King of Clusium, resolved to conquer Rome, either to restore the Etruscan monarchy, or possibly for himself. The following year he went to war with Rome, and advanced with his army upon the city. After successfully capturing those parts of the city on the Etruscan side of 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...
, including the Janiculum
Janiculum
The Janiculum is a hill in western Rome, Italy. Although the second-tallest hill in the contemporary city of Rome, the Janiculum does not figure among the proverbial Seven Hills of Rome, being west of the Tiber and outside the boundaries of the ancient city.-Sights:The Janiculum is one of the...
, the Clusian army approached the Pons Sublicius, a wooden bridge leading into the city proper. The Roman forces withdrew to the eastern side of the river, as engineers began the work of destroying the bridge's supports. Three Romans remained on the bridge to fend off the Etruscans: Publius Horatius Cocles, Spurius Lartius
Spurius Lartius
Spurius Lartius, surnamed either Flavus or Rufus, was one of the leading men of the early Roman Republic, of which he was twice consul...
, and Herminius.
Niebuhr
Barthold Georg Niebuhr
Barthold Georg Niebuhr was a Danish-German statesman and historian who became Germany's leading historian of Ancient Rome and a founding father of modern scholarly historiography. Classical Rome caught the admiration of German thinkers...
suggests a symbolic importance to these three men: each represented one of the three ancient tribes making up the Roman populace: the Ramnes, or Latins
Latins (Italic tribe)
The Latins were a people of ancient Italy who included the inhabitants of the early City of Rome. From ca. 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small part of the peninsula known to the Romans as Old Latium , that is, the region between the river Tiber and the promontory of Monte Circeo The Latins (or...
, represented by Horatius; the Titienses, or Sabines, represented by Herminius, and the Luceres, or Etruscans, represented by Lartius.
The bridge was too narrow for more than a few of the approaching army to advance upon its defenders at once, and according to the legend, they held their ground until the bridge was about to collapse. Horatius then urged his colleagues to retreat to safety, leaving him alone on the bridge. There he remained, fighting off one attacker after another, until the bridge at last gave way and plunged into the river. Horatius then jumped into the river. Accounts vary as to whether Horatius survived and swam to shore, or was drowned in the Tiber; in most accounts he survived, but according to Polybius
Polybius
Polybius , Greek ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic Period noted for his work, The Histories, which covered the period of 220–146 BC in detail. The work describes in part the rise of the Roman Republic and its gradual domination over Greece...
, he defended the bridge alone, and perished in the river.
Lartius and Herminius appear again in the war with Clusium, commanding troops as part of a trap devised by the consul Publius Valerius Publicola
Publius Valerius Publicola
Publius Valerius Publicola was one of four Roman aristocrats who led the overthrow of the monarchy, and became a Roman consul, the colleague of Lucius Junius Brutus in 509 BC, traditionally considered the first year of the Roman Republic...
to capture Etruscan raiding parties.
Consulship
Herminius was elected consul in 506 BC, the fourth year of the Republic, with Spurius Lartius, his companion on the bridge, as his colleague. No significant events occurred during their year of office, and Niebuhr suggests that their names may have been inserted in the consular fastiFasti
In ancient Rome, the fasti were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events...
to fill the gap of one year (perhaps due to Lars Porsena holding the city). Their successors sent a delegation to meet with the envoys of Porsena, and established a treaty, by which the Etruscan King gave up his claims to Rome.
Battle of Lake Regillus
In 498 BC, war erupted between Rome and the LatinsLatins (Italic tribe)
The Latins were a people of ancient Italy who included the inhabitants of the early City of Rome. From ca. 1000 BC, the Latins inhabited the small part of the peninsula known to the Romans as Old Latium , that is, the region between the river Tiber and the promontory of Monte Circeo The Latins (or...
. Many of the Latin towns had been allies of Rome during the final days of the Roman monarchy
King of Rome
The King of Rome was the chief magistrate of the Roman Kingdom. According to legend, the first king of Rome was Romulus, who founded the city in 753 BC upon the Palatine Hill. Seven legendary kings are said to have ruled Rome until 509 BC, when the last king was overthrown. These kings ruled for...
; some continued this alliance, while others sided with the Tarquins
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus
Lucius Tarquinius Superbus was the legendary seventh and final King of Rome, reigning from 535 BC until the popular uprising in 509 BC that led to the establishment of the Roman Republic. He is more commonly known by his cognomen Tarquinius Superbus and was a member of the so-called Etruscan...
, who sought to regain the throne. The Latin league was led by Octavius Mamilius
Octavius Mamilius
Octavius Mamilius was princeps of Tusculum, an ancient city of Latium. He was the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome...
, a prince of Tusculum
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy.-Location:Tusculum is one of the largest Roman cities in Alban Hills. The ruins of Tusculum are located on Tuscolo hill—more specifically on the northern edge of the outer crater ring of the Alban volcano...
, and the son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last King of Rome. To meet the Latin army, the Romans appointed a dictator
Roman dictator
In the Roman Republic, the dictator , was an extraordinary magistrate with the absolute authority to perform tasks beyond the authority of the ordinary magistrate . The office of dictator was a legal innovation originally named Magister Populi , i.e...
, Aulus Postumius Albus
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis
Aulus Postumius Albus Regillensis was an ancient Roman who, according to Livy, was dictator in 498 BC, when he conquered the Latins in the great Battle of Lake Regillus. Many of the coins of the Albini commemorate this victory of their ancestor, as in the one pictured...
, and his magister equitum
Master of the Horse
The Master of the Horse was a position of varying importance in several European nations.-Magister Equitum :...
, Titus Aebutius Elva
Titus Aebutius Elva
Titus Aebutius T. f. Elva or Helva was the first member of the patrician gens Aebutia to obtain the Roman consulship, which he held in 499 BC. The following year, he was magister equitum under Aulus Postumius Albus at the Battle of Lake Regillus...
. Herminius was a general officer in the Roman expeditionary force, which encountered the army near Lake Regillus.
During the course of the battle, Aebutius, the magister equitum, spotted Mamilius and engaged him on horseback. The two men met with great fury, and each suffered serious injuries. Aebutius was forced to retire from the battle, and direct his cavalry from a distance, while Mamilius was taken to the rear. The Latin commander returned to the fray in order to save a company of Roman exiles, who were about to be cut off by Postumius, and in so doing he was recognized by Herminius.
In the ensuing charge, described by the historian Livius
Livy
Titus 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...
as occurring with even greater ferocity than the clash with Aebutius, Herminius killed the Latin dictator with a single thrust through the body. He then stooped to strip the armor from the fallen prince, but was mortally wounded by a javelin. He was carried living to the rear, but he died as his wounds were being dressed.
In literature
The stand of Herminius and his companions against Lars Porsena at the Sublician Bridge in 508 BC. is celebrated in Macaulay's Lays of Ancient RomeLays of Ancient Rome
The Lays of Ancient Rome is a once-famous collection of four lays by Thomas Babington Macaulay describing semi-mythical heroic episodes in Roman history with strong dramatic and tragic themes...
, the most famous of which is Horatius.