The Campidoglio Geese

In 390 BC the Romans were besieged by the Gauls and there was shortage of food, as it was not possible to exit the walls of the city. The soldiers, desperate, had eaten all the animals that were around, but they didn’t eat the geese that were living in the Campidoglio hill. These animals, indeed, were consecrated to the goddess Juno and could not be killed. 

One night Marco Manlio, a soldier that was sleeping next to Juno’s temple, heard the geese honking, so he got up and ran towards the city wall. He noticed a Gaul trying to climb the fortress and repelled him. The geese kept honking and in this way they woke up the whole Roman army, which fought and repelled the Gauls. So, the Romans finally managed to defeat the Gaules, thanks to the Campidoglio geese.                          Tags: war; animals; Rome; gods.