For my daily Rome thought...

One of the great and legendary heroes of Rome was a man named Gaius Mucius Scaevola.

The quick version of the story is that when Rome was besieged by the Etruscan king Lars Porsena, Mucius snuck into the camp to assassinate Porsena. In the king's tent, he killed the wrong man and was immediately captured. While looking at Porsena, Gaius said "I'm just one man willing to die for Rome. There are a hundred others just like me. I may have missed my mark, but one of the others will not."

And, saying this, he stuck his right hand into the fire, unfliching as his hand was burned beyond recognition or repair.

Porsena was horrified by this and returned Mucius back to Rome, sending a message of treaty at the same time. (Mucius earned the name Scaevola--left hander--as an honorary name.) Porsena didn't want to fuck around with that kind of dedication.

I watched the video of the self-immolation. Not the same. Horrifying, but not the same.

For my daily Rome thought...

One of the great and legendary heroes of Rome was a man named Gaius Mucius Scaevola.

The quick version of the story is that when Rome was besieged by the Etruscan king Lars Porsena, Mucius snuck into the camp to assassinate Porsena. In the king's tent, he killed wrong man and was immediately captured. While looking at Porsena, Gaius said "I'm just one man willing to die for Rome. There are a hundred others just like me. I may have missed my mark, but one of the others will not."

And, saying this, he stuck his right hand into the fire, unfliching as his hand was burned beyond recognition or repair.

Porsena was horrified by this and returned Mucius back to Rome, sending a message of treaty at the same time. (Mucius earned the name Scaevola--left hander--as an honorary name.) Porsena didn't want to fuck around with that kind of dedication.

I watched the video of the self-immolation. Not the same. Horrifying, but not the same.