They fought in the plain between the camps, and very hard was the strife
until two of the Horatii were killed and all the three Curiatii were
wounded, but the last Horatius was entirely untouched. He began to run,
and his cousins pursued him, but at different distances, as one was less
hindered by his wound than the others. As soon as the first came up.
Horatius slew him, and so the second and the third: as he cut down this
last he cried out, "To the glory of Rome I sacrifice thee." As the Alban
king saw his champion fall, he turned to Tullus Hostilius and asked what
his commands were. "Only to have the Alban youth ready when I need
them," said Tullus.

A wreath was set on the victor's head, and, loaded with the spoil of the
Curiatii, he was led into the city in triumph. His sister came hurrying
to meet him; she was betrothed to one of the Curiatii, and was in agony
to know his fate; and when she saw the garment she had spun for him
hanging blood-stained over her brother's shoulders, she burst into loud
lamentations. Horatius, still hot with fury, struck her dead on the
spot, crying, "So perish every Roman who mourns the death of an enemy of
his country." Even her father approved the cruel deed, and would not
bury her in his family tomb--so stern were Roman feelings, putting the
honor of the country above everything. However, Horatius was brought
before the king for the murder, and was sentenced to die; but the people
entreated that their champion might be spared, and he was only made to
pass under what was called the yoke, namely, spears set up like a
doorway.

Tullus Hostilius gained several victories over his neighbors, but he was
harsh and presuming, and offended the gods, and, when he was using some
spell such as good Numa had used to hold converse with Jupiter, the
angry god sent lightning and burnt up him and his family. The people