Publius Decius Mus (consul 340 BC)

Decius, taking 1,600 men, seized a strong point through which the Samnites were obliged to pass, and held it against them until nightfall; breaking through their lines, he re-joined the main body of the army, which had gained the summit of the mountain and relative safety.

Upon confirmation from the haruspices, the two divulged a plan to their senior officers and their army that they would not lose heart, for they intended that whosoever's wing should falter first should so pledge his life to the gods of the underworld and the Earth.

[3] After performing the ritual, the fully armored Decius Mus plunged his horse into the enemy with such supernatural vigor and violence that the awe-struck Latins soon refused to engage him, eventually bringing him down with darts.

At the behest of Franco Cattaneo, a Genoese businessman, Peter Paul Rubens created a series of eight paintings, modelli for tapestry weavers to recreate, commemorating Decius Mus.

In the 2016 United States presidential election, Michael Anton wrote under the pseudonym Publius Decius Mus to put forward a defence of the positions of then candidate Donald Trump.