Greek and Roman Parallel Stories (15)

Brennus, king of the Gauls, when he was ravaging Asia, came to Ephesus and fell in love with a maiden Demonice. She promised to satisfy his desires and also to betray Ephesus, if he would give her the Gauls’ bracelets and feminine ornaments. But Brennus required his soldiers to throw into the lap of the avaricious woman the gold which they were wearing. This they did, and she was buried alive by

Tarpeia, one of the maidens of honourable estate, was the guardian of the Capitol when the Romans were warring against the Sabines. She promised Tatius that she would give him entry to the Tarpeian Rock if she received as pay the necklaces[*] which the Sabines wore for adornment. The Sabines understood the import and buried her alive. So Aristeides the Milesian in his Italian History.