Hereupon, he
was seized and questioned. A fire was burning close by in a brazier
which had been brought for Porsena to offer sacrifice. Mucius held his
right hand over this, and while the flesh was being consumed looked at
Porsena cheerfully and calmly, until he in astonishment acquitted him
and restored him his sword, which Mucius took with his left hand. On
account of this he is said to have been named _Scaevola_, which means
left-handed. He then said that though he did not fear Porsena, he was
conquered by his generosity, and out of kindness would tell him what
torture would have failed to extort: "Three hundred young Romans
like-minded with myself are at present concealed in your camp. I was
chosen by lot to make the first attempt, and am not grieved that I
failed to kill a man of honour, who ought to be a friend rather than an
enemy to the Romans." Porsena, hearing this, believed it to be true, and
became much more inclined to make peace, not, I imagine, so much for
fear of the three hundred, as out of admiration for the spirit and
valour of the Romans. This Mucius is called Scaevola by all writers, but
Athenodorus, the son of Sandon, in his book which is dedicated to
Octavia, the sister of Caesar Augustus, says that he was also named
Posthumus.
XVIII. Poplicola, who did not think Porsena so terrible as an enemy as
he would be valuable as a friend and ally, was willing that he should
decide the quarrel between the Romans and Tarquin, and often proposed
that he should do so, feeling sure that he would discover him to be a
wretch who had been most deservedly dethroned.
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