CURTUS, METIUS or METIUS, a Roman youth, who, in B.C. 362, devoted himself to death for the safety of his country. A wide chasm having suddenly opened in the Forum, the oracle declared that it never would close until Rome threw into it whatever she accounted her greatest treasure. Curtius immediately perceived that an armed citizen was the sacrifice required; and having armed himself and mounted his charger, he plunged into the abyss, on which the earth instantly closed over his head.