Dorsuo and the Gauls

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3938290
AutoresJ H Richardson (autor de correspondencia)
Año2004
Volumen58
Número3/4
Páginas284
Fecha de publicación2004-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaPhoenix (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0031-8299 • E-ISSN: 1929-4883
EditorialJSTOR (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.2307/4135170
OpenAlexW2058013983
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas2
Referencias citadas7

IN THE EARLY FOURTH CENTURY B.C. a band of Gauls descended upon Rome and sacked the city. It was an event of magnitude,1 and the tradition of it was appropriately embellished with tales of Roman valour and piety. The historicity of many of these tales, however, has proved to be highly questionable. The numerous incompatible variants surrounding the career of Camillus and the expulsion of the Gauls from Rome have long been noted; the famous tale of the geese, who raised the alarm when the Gauls attempted to seize the Capitol by stealth may well be nothing more than an aetiological explanation for certain rites; Cicero knew a version of events in which the Gauls ascended the Capitol through tunnels; and Skutsch has shown that there was a tradition, of which Ennius may have been aware, that the Gauls captured the entire city, including the Capitol.2 In spite of all this, there is one story associated with the Gallic sack that has yet to be subjected to a thorough, sceptical analysis: the tale of Dorsuo.3 First let us consider Livy's account, for it has been accorded a certain canonical status. Amongst the Roman defenders besieged on the Capitol was an individual whom Livy calls C. Fabius Dorsuo.4 Livy claims that an annual sacrifice performed by the gens Fabia, the clan to which Dorsuo belonged, was due at this time. Not wishing to let the ritual go unobserved, Dorsuo donned his toga in the manner

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