Scaevŏla in Harpers Dictionary
Gaius Mucius Scaevŏla. When King Porsena was besieging Rome,
G. Mucius went out of the city with the intention of killing
him, but by mistake stabbed the king's secretary instead of
Porsena himself. The king in his passion and alarm ordered him
to be burned alive, upon which Mucius thrust his right hand
into a fire which was already lighted for a sacrifice, and
held it there without flinching. The king, amazed at his
firmness, ordered him to be removed from the altar, and bade
him go away free and uninjured. To make some return for his
generous behaviour, Mucius told him that there were three
hundred of the first youths of Rome who had agreed with one
another to kill the king; that the lot fell on him to make the
first attempt, and that the rest would do the same when their
turn came. Porsena being alarmed for his life, which he could
not secure against so many desperate men, made proposals of
peace to the Romans, and evacuated the territory. Mucius
received the name of Scaevola, or "left-handed," from the loss
of his right hand (Livy, ii. 12 and 13).
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