Porcia
A daughter of Cato of Utica, who married Bibulus, and after his death Brutus. She was distinguished for her prudence and courage. After her husband's death she killed herself by swallowing burning coals.
She is said to have given herself a severe wound to show that she could bear pain.
Shakespeare alludes to this in Julius Caesar, act ii., scene 1, where he makes her exclaim, to show her heroism: "I have made strong proof of my constancy, Giving myself a voluntary wound Here, in the thigh."
Porsenna or Porsena. A king of Etruria, who declared war against the Romans because they refused to restore Tarquin to the throne.
He was prevented from entering the gates of Rome by the valor of P. Horatius Cocles, who at the head of a bridge kept back Porsenna's army, while the bridge was being cut down by the Romans to prevent the entry of their enemies into the city. Eventually Porsenna abandoned the cause of Tarquin. Lord Macaulay, in his fine poem Horatius, represents two other heroes, Spurius Lartius and Herminius, as keeping the bridge on either hand of Horatius Cocles.
Portunus or Portumnus. The protecting genius of harbors among the Romans.