The ''Sororium Tigillum'', which translates as the "sister's beam", was a wooden beam said to have been erected on the slope of the

Oppian Hill The Oppian Hill (Latin, ''Oppius Mons''; it, Colle Oppio) is the southern spur of the Esquiline Hill, one of the Seven hills of Rome, Italy. It is separated from the Cispius on the north by the valley of the Suburra, and from the Caelian Hill ...

in Ancient Rome by the father of

Publius Horatius In the ancient Roman legend of the kingdom era, the Horatii were triplet warriors who lived during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. The accounts of their epic clash with the Curiatii and the murder of their sister by Publius, the sole survivor ...

, one of the three brothers

Horatii In the ancient Roman legend of the kingdom era, the Horatii were triplet warriors who lived during the reign of Tullus Hostilius. The accounts of their epic clash with the Curiatii and the murder of their sister by Publius, the sole survivor ...

. Publius Horatius was required to pass under the beam, as if under a yoke, following the decision of the people's assembly to not to punish him for the murder of his sister. According to Livy, writing at the end of the 1st century BC, the Sororium Tigillum remained intact in Rome until his day, having been maintained at the public expense.

Sources

* Livy, ''

Ab urbe condita ''Ab urbe condita'' ( 'from the founding of the City'), or ''anno urbis conditae'' (; 'in the year since the city's founding'), abbreviated as AUC or AVC, expresses a date in years since 753 BC, the traditional founding of Rome. It is an exp ...

'', 1:26 * ''CIL'' 6.32482 * Platner, S. B, and T. Ashby. 1929. "Tigillum Sororium." In ''A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.

References

{{Reflist Topography of the ancient city of Rome