Editing Marcus Curtius

{{Short description|Ancient Roman legendary figure}}
{{Other uses|Curtius (disambiguation){{!}}Curtius}}
[[File:Veronese.Marcus Curtius01.jpg|thumb|230px|''The Sacrificial Death of Marcus Curtius'' (1550–52) by [[Paolo Veronese]]]]
[[File:Nuremberg chronicles f 70r 1.png|thumb|230px|Marcus Curtius in  the ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' (1493)]]
'''Marcus Curtius''' is a mythological young Roman who offered himself to the gods of [[Hades]]. He is mentioned shortly by [[Marcus Terentius Varro|Varro]]<ref>''De lingua Latina,'' 5,32,148.</ref> and at length by [[Titus Livius|Livius]].<ref>''Ab urbe condita libri'' 7,6.</ref> He is the legendary namesake of the [[Lacus Curtius]] in the [[Roman Forum]], the site of his supposed self-sacrifice.

==Legendary biography==
After an earthquake in 362 BC, a huge deep pit suddenly opened in the [[Roman Forum]], which the Romans attempted to fill, but in vain. Despairing, they consulted an [[augur]] who responded that the gods demanded the most precious possession of Rome.<ref name=EB1911>{{cite EB1911 |wstitle=Curtius, Marcus |volume=7 |page=653}}</ref> The Romans doubted the warning, and struggled to think of what that was. 

However, a young soldier named Marcus Curtius castigated them and responded that arms and the courage of Romans were the nation's most precious possessions.<ref name=EB1911/> Astride his horse, fully and meticulously armed and decorated, Marcus rode and leapt into the chasm.<ref name=EB1911/> Immediately, the deep pit closed over him, saving Rome.<ref name=EB1911/> 

The [[Lacus Curtius]] in the Forum was supposedly built on the site of the pit, and receives its name from him.<ref name=EB1911/>

==Art history==
The story of Marcus Curtius, sacrificing himself for the cause of the commonwealth, became well known theme during the [[Renaissance]], due to etchings made by the German artist [[Lucas Cranach the Elder]] (1507/1508) and the Dutch artist [[Hendrick Goltzius]] (1586). It was also depicted in the famous ''[[Nuremberg Chronicle]]'' by [[Hartmann Schedel]] (1493). A bas-relief, apparently found in a garden near the [[Forum Romanum]] in 1553, seems to have been leading in most images. It dates from the Early Empire, but may have been copied from a 3rd- or 2nd-century BC piece.<ref>Angeline Chiu, ''Ovid's Women of the Year: Narratives of Roman Identity in the Fasti'', University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbour 2016, p. 31.</ref> [[Benjamin Robert Haydon]] (1786-1846) painted a large oil entitled ''[[Curtius Leaping into the Gulf]]'' in 1842.

== See also==
{{commonscat}}
*[[Curtia (gens)]]
{{wikisource|The Fate of Adelaide, a Swiss Romantic Tale; and Other Poems/Curtius|'Curtius', a poem<br>by Letitia Elizabeth Landon}}

== References ==
<references />

==External links==
*[https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Gazetteer/Places/Europe/Italy/Lazio/Roma/Rome/_Texts/PLATOP*/Lacus_Curtius.html 'Lacus Curtius' page in the Penelope Chicago University site with images]
*[http://tesorillo.com/republica/curtia/curtia.htm Images of the silver coins ("denarii") made by order of the coinage Triunvir Quintus Curtius in 115-116 B.C.]
* Maria Berbara: [https://www.academia.edu/6956539/Civic_Self_Offering_Some_Renaissance_Representations_of_Marcus_Curtius ''Civic Self-Offering: Some Renaissance Representations of Marcus Curtius.''] in Karl Enenkel, Jan L. de Jong, Jeanine de Landtsheer (Ed.): ''Recreating Ancient History,'' p. 147–166. Leiden 2001, Brill.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Curtius, Marcus}}
[[Category:Curtii]]
[[Category:Characters in Roman mythology]]