Then a certain Marcus Curtius, who was accounted among the first of the youths because of his prudence and his prowess in war, sought admission to the senate and declared that of all blessings the finest thing and the one most essential to the Roman state was the valour of its men; if, therefore, the earth should receive some first-fruits of this and the one who offered it to the fatherland should do so voluntarily, the earth would send up many good men. Having said this and promised that he would not yield this distinction to anyone else, he girded on his arms and mounted his war-horse. And when the multitude in the city had gathered to witness the spectacle, he first prayed to the gods to fulfil the oracles and grant that many men like himself should be born to the Roman state; then, giving the horse free rein and applying the spurs, he hurled himself down the chasm.