[5,25] Τοῦτο τὸ ἔργον ἀθάνατον αὐτῷ δόξαν εἰργάσατο. παραχρῆμά τε γὰρ οἱ Ῥωμαῖοι στεφανώσαντες αὐτὸν ἀπέφερον εἰς τὴν πόλιν ὑμνοῦντες ὡς τῶν ἡρώων ἕνα, καὶ πᾶς ὁ κατοικίδιος ὄχλος ἐξεχεῖτο ποθῶν αὐτόν, ἕως ἔτι περιῆν, θεάσασθαι τὴν τελευταίαν πρόσοψιν· ἐδόκει γὰρ ὑπὸ τῶν τραυμάτων οὐκ εἰς μακρὰν διαφθαρήσεσθαι· καὶ ἐπειδὴ διέφυγε τὸν θάνατον, εἰκόνα χαλκῆν ἔνοπλον ὁ δῆμος ἔστησεν αὐτοῦ τῆς ἀγορᾶς ἐν τῷ κρατίστῳ καὶ χώραν ἐκ τῆς δημοσίας ἔδωκεν, ὅσην αὐτὸς ἐν ἡμέρᾳ μιᾷ ζεύγει βοῶν περιαρόσει· χωρὶς δὲ τῶν δημοσίᾳ δοθέντων κατὰ κεφαλὴν ἕκαστος ἀνδρῶν τε καὶ γυναικῶν, ὅτε μάλιστα δεινὴ σπάνις τῶν ἀναγκαίων {ἐπιτηδείων} ἅπαντας κατεῖχε, μιᾶς ἡμέρας τροφὴν ἐχαρίσαντο μυριάδες ἀνθρώπων αἱ σύμπασαι πλείους ἢ τριάκοντα. Ὁράτιος μὲν δὴ τοιαύτην ἀποδειξάμενος ἀρετὴν ἐν τῷ τότε χρόνῳ ζηλωτὸς μὲν εἰ καί τις ἄλλος Ῥωμαίων ἐγένετο, ἄχρηστος δ´ εἰς τὰ λοιπὰ πράγματα τῆς πόλεως διὰ τὴν πήρωσιν τῆς βάσεως· καὶ διὰ τὴν συμφορὰν ταύτην οὔθ´ ὑπατείας οὔτ´ ἄλλης ἡγεμονίας στρατιωτικῆς οὐδεμιᾶς ἔτυχεν. οὗτός τε δὴ θαυμαστὸν ἔργον ἀποδειξάμενος ἐν τῷ τότε ἀγῶνι Ῥωμαίοις ἄξιος εἴπερ τις καὶ ἄλλος τῶν ἐπ´ ἀνδρείᾳ διονομασθέντων ἐπαινεῖσθαι, καὶ ἔτι πρὸς τούτῳ Γάιος Μούκιος, ᾧ Κόρδος ἐπωνύμιον ἦν, ἀνὴρ ἐξ ἐπιφανῶν πατέρων καὶ αὐτὸς ἐγχειρήματι ἐπιβαλόμενος μεγάλῳ, περὶ οὗ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐρῶ διηγησάμενος πρῶτον, ἐν οἵαις ἡ πόλις ἦν τότε συμφοραῖς.

[5,25] This deed gained him immortal glory. For the Romans immediately crowned him and conducted (p75) him into the city with songs, as one of the heroes; and all the inhabitants poured out of their houses, desiring to catch the last sight of him while he was yet alive, since they supposed he would soon succumb to his wounds. And when he escaped death, the people erected a bronze statue of him fully armed in the principal part of the Forum and gave him as much of the public land as he himself could plough round in one day with a yoke of oxen. Besides these things bestowed upon him by the public, every person, both man and woman, at a time when they were all most sorely oppressed by a dreadful scarcity of provisions, gave him a day's ratio of food; and the number of people amounted to more than three hundred thousand in all. Thus Horatius, who had shown so great valour upon that occasion, occupied as enviable a position as any Roman who ever lived, but he was rendered useless by his lameness for further services to the state; and because of this misfortune he obtained neither the consulship nor any military command either. 4This was one man, therefore, who for the wonderful deed he performed for the Romans in that engagement deserves as great praise as any of those who have ever won renown for valour. And besides him there was also Gaius Mucius, surnamed Cordus, a man of distinguished ancestry, who also undertook to perform a great deed; but of him I shall speak a little later, after first relating in what dire circumstances the state found itself at that time.