Sue, Eugène: The Galley Slave's Ring. v1. 12 May 2015
 

Joseph Marie Eugène Sue (French pronunciation: ​[ø.ʒɛn sy] (20 January 1804 – 3 August 1857) was a French novelist. He established the genre of the serial novel with his very popular and widely imitated Les Mystères de Paris which was published in a newspaper from 1842 to 1843.

Excerpt
In fact, a picture, pretty well drawn and painted, represented the well known historic incident of Brennus, the chief of the Gallic army, throwing with savage and haughty mien his sword into one of the scales of the balance that held the ransom of Rome, vanquished by our Gallic ancestors, about two thousand and odd years ago.