Titus Herminius Aquilinus (died 498 BC) was one of the early Roman Republic’s heroes. He participated in the major conflicts attending the founding and securing of the new republic. He rose to high office, and was elected consul in 506 BC. His greatest achievement for which he was most lauded was a heroic stand at a bridge.

The Heroes of the Sublician Bridge

After his ouster in a popular revolt, Rome’s last monarch sought the aid of King Lars Porsena of nearby Clusium. The two monarchs marched on Rome at the head of a mixed army of Clusians and Roman royalist exiles. In 508 BC, the invaders routed the infant republic’s forces opposite Rome, and sent them fleeing across the Sublician Bridge into Rome, which lay defenseless. Lars Porsena’s forces were halted at the narrow bridge by three courageous Romans: Herminius, Horatius, and a Spurius Lartius, who held off the enemy long enough for the bridge to be destroyed behind them.

When the bridge was about to collapse, Herminius and Lartius were urged by Horatius to retreat, while he fought on alone until the bridge fell. Herminius and Lartius were elected consuls in 506 BC. In 498 BC, war broke out with Rome’s Latin neighbors, and Herminius was one of the generals in the army that marched out to deal with them. When the forces met at the Battle of Lake Regillus in 498 BC, Herminius slew the enemy’s leader in single combat. However, while stripping the corpse of its armor, Herminius was mortally wounded by a javelin.

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Some Sources & Further Reading

Beard, Mary – SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (2015)

Cornell, Tim – The Beginnings of Rome: Italy and Rome From the Bronze Age to the Punic Wars (2012)

History Halls – The Men Who Made and Unmade the Roman Republic: Lucius Junius Brutus

Livy – History of Rome, Book 2