This text discusses the history of statues in Rome, mentioning both pedestrian and equestrian statues. It highlights the respect given to women with the statue of Clélie and contrasts the stories of various sculptures related to Roman history, such as those of Lucrece and Brutus. The passage also includes interpretations of historical accounts of statues and notable figures like Valeria and their broader political implications.
THEORY
...the year had not yet passed this number of days. These were burned almost as quickly. The Roman Tribes had erected them in every street of Rome to C. Marius Gratidianus, whom they overthrew when Sylla entered the city. Pliny, Chapter VI, Section xii.
The pedestrian statues were undoubtedly highly esteemed in Rome from an early time; however, the origin of equestrian statues is also very ancient: they even honored women, as there is one of Clélie, as if it were not enough to have adorned her in a toga: while Lucrece and Brutus, who had driven out the Kings for whom Clélie was hostage, received none. I would think that this statue and that of Horatius Cocles were the first raised by public decree unless Piso said that it was those who had been hostages with Clélie, and whom Porsenna returned to his confederation, who erected it to her. For that of Attus and those of the Sibylle, it was Tarquin: for those of the Kings, it is likely that they erected them themselves. Herald Annius says, on the contrary, that the equestrian statue opposite the temple of Jupiter Stator in the vestibule of Tarquin the Proud’s palace, was that of Valeria, daughter of Consul Publicola, and that she saved herself alone by swimming the Tiber, the other hostages sent to Porsenna having been massacred by the Tarquin faction in an ambush. Chapter VI, Section xiii.