Curtius
Curtius names 2 different subjects across the 6 encyclopedias on this shelf. Each is set out below. 1 of them is described by more than one encyclopedia.
Curtius ker'shi-us, Marcus
Described by 2 of the 6 encyclopedias.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
ker'shi-us, Marcus, a hero of Roman legends. The story runs that in the year 362 B. C. a chasm opened in the forum, or marketplace, at Rome. The soothsayers were consulted and predicted great calamity; but declared that the chasm would close and calamity be averted if that which constituted the glory of the state were thrown into the abyss. While discussion was in progress as to what constituted the glory of the state, Curtius appeared, mounted on horseback and shining in armor. He exclaimed, "Rome has nothing more precious than arms and valor," and leaped into the chasm, which immediately closed.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
MARCUS, a Roman hero, who devoted himself to the infernal gods for the safety of his country. According to the legend, a wide chasm having suddenly appeared in the Forum, the oracle declared that it never would close until Rome threw into it its most precious possessions. Thereupon Curtius, arming himself, mounted his horse, and saying that Rome contained nothing more precious to its greatness than a valiant citizen fully accoutered for battle, he solemnly threw himself into the abyss, which instantly closed over his head, B. C. 362.
Curtius ERNST (kör'tsē-ös)
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
ERNST (kör'tsē-ös), a German archæologist and historian; born in Lübeck, Sept. 2, 1814. His studies were all directed toward Grecian antiquity, and he visited Greece repeatedly on scientific missions. "Peloponnesus" (1851) is a history of that peninsula. His "Greek History" is a scholarly work written in a popular style. His works on "Olympia" and other ancient cities are addressed rather to scholars than to the general public. He died July 11, 1896.
What Has Changed in the Last Century
The Curtius story is still told as Aiton's told it in 1910 and Collier's in 1921 — a legend rather than an event, and one the Romans themselves could not agree on: Livy offers the self-sacrificing horseman alongside two rival explanations for the name of the Lacus Curtius, including a swamp named for a Sabine soldier and a spot struck by lightning. Excavation of the Roman Forum has fixed the site of the Lacus Curtius near the middle of the square, where a marble relief of an armed rider plunging downward (found in the sixteenth century, the original now in the Capitoline collections) is displayed in replica. Ernst Curtius's reputation has shifted more: his "Greek History" is no longer read as history, but the German excavation of Olympia he directed from 1875 remains one of the foundational digs of classical archaeology, and work at the site continues.
Written for this edition, 2026.