Then out spake brave Horatius,?The Captain of the Gate:?"To every man upon this earth?Death cometh soon or late.?And how can man die better?Than facing fearful odds,?For the ashes of his fathers,?And the temples of his Gods."
(Lays of Ancient Rome)

Horatius Cocles (meaning “one-eyed”) is a mythical roman hero dating from VI century BC. His brother was Marcus Horatio Pulvillus (Consul in 509 b.C.). The tradition wants them the descendants of the three legendary Horatii brothers, who saved Rome during the war with Alba Longa in VII century BC.
The Roman historian Titus Livy narrates that in year 508 BC, King Porsenna marched on Rome with his Etruscan armies, conquering the Janiculum hill. Rome’s destiny depended on the defense of the Sublicium bridge, the only bridge across the Tiber.  Horatius Cocles rushed to the Sublicium bridge together with Spurius Larcius and Titus Herminius, and the three Roman soldiers held back the whole Etruscan army, while their comrades started the demolition of the bridge to prevent Etruscan from crossing the Tiber.

Parte 4

La battaglia

Eccoci giunti alla fine!

Dopo avere descritto i singoli protagonisti ecco finalmente il diorama completo.

Prima di lasciare la parola alle immagini ancora poche righe sull’assemblaggio del diorama.
A questo punto avevo il terreno pronto e tutti i figurini pronti.