Prior to his consulship he was one of the two patricians sent by the senate to Sicily to retrieve grain to save Rome during a famine in 492 BC, returning a year later having succeeded.
The forces of Veii then attacked from the city, but in some disorder, and a Roman cavalry charged and routed the Veientes, giving Rome the overall victory.
This revolt was led by Appius Herdonius, a wealthy Sabine with designs either to break Rome's power or to attain regal authority.
When the full gravity of the situation became known in the morning, the plebeians refused to help combat this insurgency unless the patricians granted them their long sought reforms.
In reaction to such strife occurring even as part of the city was in hostile occupation, Valerius in a long speech exhorted the plebeians to help the patricians defeat Herdonius, playing to the religiosity of the Romans by stating that the temples of the gods were being held hostage by hostile marauders as well as promising to push for their desired reforms if their aid was granted.