Decius Mus, the name of three Romans, father, son, and grandson, who on separate critical emergencies (340, 295, 279 B.C.) devoted themselves in sacrifice to the infernal gods in order to secure victory to the Roman arms; the name is mostly employed ironically.
Definition taken from The Nuttall Encyclopædia, edited by the Reverend James Wood (1907)
Decius * Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire