him ready to murder him in Rome. Impressed, Porsenna releases Mucius, lays down his arms and sends ambassadors to Rome.<hr>
       Horatius Cocles is a legendary Roman hero. He is famous for defending the Sublicius bridge against the Etruscans, which leads to the city of Rome. After single-handedly defending the bridge while his comrades sabotaged it, he orders them to destroy it while he is still on it. He jumps into the Tiber fully armed and swims back to his companions.<hr>
       Brutus, Lucius Junius Brutus, or Lucius Iunius Brutus, is the legendary founder of the Roman Republic and one of the two first Roman consuls in 509 BC. He executes his two sons after they plot against him.<hr>
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                     Eighteenth Speech - Octavia to Octavian
                            Octavia, wife of Marc Antony
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                                               Context<hr>
       As tensions grew between Octavian and Mark Antony, and Octavian was preparing to wage war again, he tried to force his sister Octavia to leave her husband, who was treating her in a degrading manner. However, Octavia, a meritorious woman who disapproved of this advice, vehemently opposed it and approximately expressed herself to her honorable and beloved brother as follows:<hr>
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                                           Octavia to Octavian<hr>
       Please, do not ask me to leave Antony's house and do not put me in a situation where I would have to disobey you. The honor to which I am attached forbids me from committing either of these faults. I know that your friendship for me drives you to give me this advice. It is true that Antony turns his heart and affection to offer them to Cleopatra, but is it fitting that if the queen's love prompts Antony to do wrong, Octavia's jealousy should incite you to do another? No, it would not be right.<hr>
Think therefore of public interest, not just my own, and consider once again that it would be equally shameful for Octavian and Antony to trigger a war and destroy the Empire out of love for one woman and jealousy for another.<hr>
       However, if you were to be judged equally, you would be guiltier than Antony, for he is blinded by love and can no longer hear reason whereas my reputation should not disturb your mind as it does. The love of Cleopatra has so clouded his judgment that he is dazzled and forgets his own interests. He did not think he was offending me by accepting the gifts I offered him and refusing to see me because he preferred to return to Alexandria. He did not intend to irritate Octavia, but to< hr>
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