to rape us, for we could only preserve it by avoiding the atrocity of being slaves.<hr>
In reality, we had promised you nothing personally and we had to believe that even<hr>
in Rome's interest, it was necessary to leave your camp, for as Romans, the city<hr>
could have suffered an insult through our captivity.<hr>
       The glory of Rome being linked to ours, we deemed it right to risk our lives to<hr>
protect both, and we would undoubtedly do the same if the opportunity presented itself again. The misfortune of Lucretia taught us to anticipate such dramas. And I can assure you<hr>
that if we were to die, we would at least die innocent. There is no rule without<hr>
exception. Lying, which is a form of cowardice, is sometimes glorious. I am convinced<hr>
that no one criticized the noble Mucius when he assured you while looking at his burning hand<hr>
with prodigious composure that there were three hundred men in our camp who intended to kill you, even though he was really alone. This admirable courage that prompted<hr>
Horatius Cocles to stand firm alone against your entire army and which then forced him to throw himself<hr>
into the Tiber, armed as he was, is not considered ridiculous recklessness. The firmness<hr>
of Brutus in sentencing his own children to death because they were traitors to their<hr>
homeland will be perceived as the judgement of a good citizen rather than the feeling of an abominable father<hr>
Why won't they want the interest of honor and the public good, which justifies<hr>
Mucius' lie, Cocles' recklessness, and Brutus' insensitivity, to also justify<hr>
the flight of Cloelia and her companions since their only goal was the preservation of their<hr>
honor and the homeland? If Mucius bravely burnt his hand, if Cocles was<hr>
entirely devoted to salvation, if Brutus gave his children's blood and if we too we<hr>
exposed our lives for the same reason, why can't we claim the<hr>
same acknowledgment? Why would Lucretia deserve an immortal reputation for having stabbed herself after her offense, where we would be unworthy for having risked our lives to die innocent!?<hr>
       No, no, it cannot be so. Posterity will be more fair, and I even believe that if you carefully examine your feelings, you will find that they do not judge us.<hr>
We have never seen the gods strike down the victims who escape from the<hr>
sacrifice. So why, Porsenna, would you want to treat shamefully the girls who, seeing themselves<hr>
neglected by their guards, or rather their enemies, sought their safety at the cost their lives? One might tell me that my arguments are fair and that we were not wrong in doing this, but that it seems afterwards that our parents did not make the right decision by sending us back. However, this idea is not justified, and I will explain it in a few words. I<hr>
have already told you that it was the honor that motivated our flight, and it is this same honor which caused our return. In reality, it is our fathers who gave you their word, it is they<hr>
who offered us as hostages, it is they who negotiated with you, it is they who agreed on the terms of peace. Therefore, it is up to them to respect everything they promised you<hr>

                                                  129<hr>