The gens Decia was a plebeian family of high antiquity, which became illustrious in Roman history by the example of its members sacrificing themselves for the preservation of their country.
[1] Decius is the Latin form of the Oscan praenomen Dekis, or its gentile equivalent, Dekiis.
From this it may be supposed that the Decii were of Oscan extraction, perhaps arising from the Sabine portion of Rome's original inhabitants.
[2] In any event, they were already at Rome in the earliest years of the Republic, as one of them was chosen to represent the plebeians during the first secession in 495 BC.
Mus, or "mouse", was the name of a family that was renowned in early Roman history for two of its members devoting themselves to death in order to save the Republic.