MOC: Horatius on the Bridge

[Macsen Wledig]

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,

From Horatius at the Bridge by Thomas Babington, Lord Macaulay (1800–1859)

In around 506 BC a large Etruscan army lead by Lars Poresna, King of Clusium, marched on Rome. Among their number was Rome’s recently deposed King, Tarquinius Superbus, who hoped that, following a successful campaign, he would be returned to the city’s throne.

Having recently engaged an army of Tarquin’s in an indecisive battle at Aricia, the Romans were expecting an invasion and hastily attempted to construct a fort on the Janiculum, a hill on the western side of the Tiber. However, owing to inadequate scouting, the troops stationed at the fort were surprised and overcome by the Eutruscan force, which proceeded to occupy the hill.

From the Janiculum, Porsena’s army launched an attack and advanced on Pons Sublicius. The Roman forces were now in disarray and the future of the newly formed republic looked bleak. However, just as all seemed lost, a soldier named Horatius Cocles, accompanied by two others, namely Titus Herminius Aquilinus and Spurius Lartius (which, intriguingly, are Etruscan names) stepped forward to defend the bridge, using its narrow width to reduce the effectiveness of the large enemy force that bore down upon them. There they fought while to their rear the citizens of Rome gathered and, using but hand axes, began to chop down the bridge. Herminius and Spurius retreated as the bridge was almost destroyed, but Horatius fought on until the bridge had fallen, leaping into the river in full armour and swimming its width while coming under enemy fire. The attack was thus repulsed and Porsena forced into an unsuccessful siege of the city.

That, at least, is how the story goes according to Rome’s poets and historians. There have however always been questions about the story’s veracity and even Livy, whose history was as much about promoting Augustus Caesar’s legitimacy as it was about recording past events, casts doubt over some of its claims. It’s likely that Porsena succeeded in capturing Rome, for a short period at least (though there is no evidence to suggest that Tarquin’s throne was ever restored), and that Horatius’ exploits were later invented as a means of masking past defeats and promoting the idea of Rome’s inherent superiority. The Romans were, after all, skilled in the art of propaganda, a modern Latin word with ancient roots.

Whatever the truth, I think it makes for a fun little MOC.

You may notice that I’ve avoided using the familiar Roman Minifigure helmets and armour. This is because during this period the Roman Army was still fighting in the Greco-Etruscan style, where the phalanx was the master of the battlefield. This is over a hundred years before Rome comes into conflict with the Samnites and subsequently adopts the maniple system and around 400 years before Marius implements his reforms. The army was therefore vastly different in appearance and style to the one most people are familiar with. This is why I’ve gone for the Corinthian helmets, Hoplon shields and bronze and Linothorax type armour.

All photos can be seen by going to my Flickr account.

Anyway, many thanks for viewing, your C&C is very welcome.

MW

[Adolfo]

Very nice battle scene! The minifigures expressions were well choiced too.The other elements like the flowers, statue and especially the bridge technique are perfect. All MOC is great. Congrats!

[Sigolf Brimabane]

Superb bridge (y)

[LordDan]

Nice moc! The bridge is great, as is the stonework, and the minifig posing is prefect aswell! :)

[Ranger_Elegost]

Wickedly impressive :D

[Dzoni90]

Very nice and cool moc. Minifigs are excellent.

[MAB]

How is the toga done on the white statue?

[Macsen Wledig]

Very nice battle scene! The minifigures expressions were well choiced too.The other elements like the flowers, statue and especially the bridge technique are perfect. All MOC is great. Congrats!

Thanks very much Adolfo. I always enjoy choosing minifig expressions, I think they can really make a difference to the feel of a MOC.

Superb bridge (y)

Thanks Sigolf!

Nice moc! The bridge is great, as is the stonework, and the minifig posing is prefect aswell! :)

Thanks very much LordDan, I really enjoyed putting those pieces together.

Very nice and cool moc. Minifigs are excellent.

Thanks Dzoni90, it took me a long time and a lot of Bricklink orders for me to put these guys together - I'm glad you like them!

How is the toga done on the white statue?

Hi MAB, it's a custom from this Bricklink store:

http://www.bricklink.com/store.asp?p=dingraham&itemID=23365348

I highly recommend them.

Wickedly impressive :D

Thanks very much, mate!

[kabel]

The bridge and the water look extremely good. Good job on the photos too.

That said, I really like the subject you have picked here and it's an excellent proof that we don't need TLG to create new themes for us. All it takes is the figs!

[Black Numenorean]

Amazing work! i love your spartian army!

[TheLegoDr]

Very clever part usage. I like the overall build. It fits with the story well. I've never read that. I don't know much about Roman history. It does seem like an interesting time period, but I'm sure if I read it, then I'd join the ranks of others who are clamoring for more Roman themed figures. I can't afford anything else haha

Keep up the great work!

[TheRedViper]

Very nice bridge.

[songwm]

Wow very nice scene! I like everything about this moc, esp the guys cutting the bridge.

[Zerobricks]

Awesome technique used for the bridge and great overall designs! I like the high number of figs.

[Macsen Wledig]

The bridge and the water look extremely good. Good job on the photos too.

That said, I really like the subject you have picked here and it's an excellent proof that we don't need TLG to create new themes for us. All it takes is the figs!

Thanks very much Kabel. Yes, I love exploring ways of making ancient figures from existing pieces. A theme would probably spoil this fun!

Amazing work! i love your spartian army!

Thanks very much!

Very clever part usage. I like the overall build. It fits with the story well. I've never read that. I don't know much about Roman history. It does seem like an interesting time period, but I'm sure if I read it, then I'd join the ranks of others who are clamoring for more Roman themed figures. I can't afford anything else haha

Keep up the great work!

Thanks very much TheLegoDr - you've got a point, these Roman figures really do requier a lot of investment!

Very nice bridge.

Thanks very much!

Wow very nice scene! I like everything about this moc, esp the guys cutting the bridge.

Thanks very much songwm!

Awesome technique used for the bridge and great overall designs! I like the high number of figs.

Thanks very much. Yes, I wanted to use a lot of figs to give it a busy, lively feel. I have actually got a load more hoplites I could use, but no room to fit them in here. There is a epic battle on the horizon though!

[cablefoxley]

Awesome moc there. The bridge is great using the technic connectors and the figs are great. Nice dome on the temple as well, it looks nice in dark red.

[Macsen Wledig]

Awesome moc there. The bridge is great using the technic connectors and the figs are great. Nice dome on the temple as well, it looks nice in dark red.

Thanks very much cablefoxley - I'm a bit of a fan of the dark red.

[talex]

"This is madness!" from 300 comes to my mind! :D

[Macsen Wledig]

"This is madness!" from 300 comes to my mind! :D

Thanks talex; these Romans are crazy ;)