For many years, the Romans considered the Gauls to be their most dangerous enemies. During the next war with them, one of the commanders of the Roman army, young Marcus Valery, became famous. When the two armies stood opposite each other, a huge Gaul, distinguished also by excellent weapons, emerged from the enemy camp. Perhaps it was one of the Gallic leaders. In the silence that followed, he spoke. There was an interpreter nearby, and he said that the Gaul was challenging some Roman to a duel. Valery could not stand the boast and asked the consul, who commanded the Roman army, for permission to accept the challenge. He allowed it. Valery, armed, stepped out into the middle of the field that separated both camps. But before the battle began, a miracle happened.
Suddenly a raven flew in from the east and sat on Valery’s helmet, turning its beak towards the Gaul. The Roman warrior took this as a divine sign. But since Valery did not know which of the gods sent the bird to him, so that none of the celestial beings would be offended, he turned with a prayer “to either god or goddess” and asked not to leave him with their mercy. The duel began. As soon as the warriors grappled with each other, the raven flew up and attacked the Gaul, trying to hit him in the face and eyes. The astonished Gaul retreated, and the raven sat down again on the Roman's helmet. When the duel resumed, the same thing happened: the raven again flew at the Gaul, and then returned to the Roman. This happened again and again. Gall was amazed and went mad with fear. Valery took advantage of this and felled the enemy with a decisive blow. As soon as the Gaul was killed, the raven instantly rose and flew away to the east, to where it had recently flown from.
Soon a fight ensued around the body of the murdered Gaul, which escalated into a real battle, in which the Romans, inspired by a clear sign of divine protection, won. In memory of the miracle, Valery received the nickname Corvinus from the Latin word “corvus”, which means “raven”.
Translated from Russian · original on wisdomlib.ru