Horatius Cocles lives at the edge where early Roman history becomes national myth—but that’s exactly why the story is so powerful. In the traditional account, Rome had only recently expelled its last king, Tarquinius Superbus, and enemies moved fast to restore him. One of the central threats was Lars Porsenna, an Etruscan king associated with the city of Clusium, whose forces advanced toward Rome. The choke point was the Pons Sublicius, a wooden bridge over the Tiber—Rome’s lifeline and its weak