Courage cannot be cast down by adversity. Publius Syrus. The Moral Sayings of Publius Syrus. Number 695.
Image: Young girl reading Gallo-Roman bronze statuette of the second half of the 1st century CE after a Hellenistic model. Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons contributor Marie-Lan Nguyen. You may think this is an odd choice to accompany a quote about courage but I was thinking of Hortensia, daughter of the famous 1st century BCE orator Hortensius, who took on the all male Roman senate when the Second Triumvirate of Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus proposed to fund the triumvirate's campaign against Caesar's assassins with a heavy tax on 1500 wealthy Roman women.
Hortensia demanded, "Why should we pay taxes when we have no part in pubic office or honours or commands or government in general, an evil you have fought over with such disastrous results?"
"These women were incensed because they were not permitted a voice in public policy, and were not willing to finance a civil war. Many of them had seen their husbands, sons or brothers murdered by the triumvirate and their wealth confiscated and now possessed only their wealth from their dowries. They chose Hortensia to be their spokeswoman." Notable Women of the Roman Republic: Hortensia by Robin Levin.
After her lengthy oration, the Triumvirs ordered Hortensia and the other women to leave the forum, but they refused. The lictors hesitated to manhandle noble born women but, remember, the young Octavian wasn't known as "The Butcher" without reason. Finally, the Triumvirs agreed to remit the tax for all but 400 of the most wealthy women.
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