Then the enemy, furious that it had allowed the great warrior to escape, hurled its spears after him.
But not one reached the bold swimmer, who, weighed down by his armour and weakened by his wounds, often sank, yet ever rose again and struggled onwards.
At length he reached the bank, where eager hands were waiting to draw him up into safety.
When the Romans saw that their hero was safe indeed, although exhausted with his efforts, a mighty shout of triumph rent the air.
Horatius was rewarded for his brave deed by the Senate, who gave him as much land as he could plough in a day, while in later days a monument was erected in memory of his prowess and placed in the Comitium. The Comitium was near to the Forum, and was sometimes counted as part of it.
CHAPTER XXIV
GAIUS MUCIUS BURNS HIS RIGHT HAND
Lars Porsenna had been repulsed, but he had not been defeated. He now besieged Rome so closely, that the people were soon suffering all the horrors of famine.
Then a youth, named Gaius Mucius, determined to save Rome by killing Lars Porsenna.
Gaining the consent of the Senate to his scheme, he disguised himself as a countryman, and found his way into the camp of the enemy. Beneath the folds of his simple dress, Mucius had concealed a dagger.