Mucius Scaevola

Who is Mucius Scaevola?

Gaius Mucius Scaevola was a Roman youth, famous for his bravery.

In 508 BC, during the war between Rome and Clusium, the Clusian king Lars Porsena laid siege to Rome. Mucius, with the approval of the Roman Senate sneaked into the Etruscan camp and attempted to murder Porsena. It was the soldiers' pay day. There were two similarly dressed people on a raised platform talking to the troops. He misidentified Porsena and killed Porsena's scribe instead. Mucius was captured, and famously declared to Porsena: "I am Gaius Mucius, a citizen of Rome. I came here as an enemy to kill my enemy, and I am as ready to die as I am to kill. We Romans act bravely and, when adversity strikes, we suffer bravely." He also declared that he was the first of three hundred Roman youths who volunteered to assassinate Porsena at the risk of their own lives.

"Watch this," he declared. "so that you know how cheap the body is to men who have their eye on great glory." Mucius thrust his right hand into one of the Etruscan camp fires and held it there without giving any indication of pain, thereby earning for himself and his descendants the cognomen Scaevola, meaning 'left-handed'. Porsena, shocked at the youth's bravery, dismissed him from the Etruscan camp, free to return to Rome saying "Go back, since you do more harm to yourself than me". At the same time, the king also sent ambassadors to Rome to offer peace.