Publius Decius Mus
Publius Decius Mus is the Roman example of a commander who gave his own life to win a battle. He was consul in 340 BC during the Latin War, when Rome fought the confederation of Latin cities that had been its allies and which now demanded equal representation. The tradition, in Livy, has both consuls receive the same dream on the night before the engagement near Mount Vesuvius: that the commander of one side and the army of the other were owed to the gods of the underworld, and that whichever general dedicated himself would secure victory for his own side. They agreed that whichever wing began to give way, its commander would perform the rite. Decius's left wing broke. He called the pontifex, who dictated the formula of the devotio — a vow offering himself and the enemy army to the Manes and to Earth — with his head veiled, standing on a spear, in a toga worn in a particular fashion. He then mounted his horse and rode alone into the Latin line, and was killed. Livy reports that the Latins were seized with terror at the sight and that the Roman line recovered and won. The historicity is doubtful. His son is said to have done the same at Sentinum in 295 BC against the Samnites and Gauls, and his grandson at Asculum against Pyrrhus in 279 BC, which is a pattern that suggests family tradition being elaborated. The story mattered enormously to Roman self-conception, and Rubens painted a cycle of it.
- Lived: 360 BCE – 340 BCE
- Nationality: Roman
- Roles: military_leader, consul
