ABSTRACT
Valerius proposes in his third book to treat the constituent parts of proper conduct, the “elements of virtue” (elementa uirtutis; 3.init.). Gods do not play a heavy-handed role in this book, but they are certainly not absent. In fact, gods observe human activities, and can intervene in a helpful way when they approve. The immortal gods, amazed at the bravery of Horatius Cocles as he defended the Pons Sublicius, kept him safe2: “Amazed at his bravery, the immortal gods provided him with inviolate safety” ([eius] fortitudinem dii immortales admirati incolumitatem sinceram ei praestiterunt; 3.2.1). A sceptic might scoff at the antiquity of the scene and a certain fabulous quality to the narrative, but Valerius provides proof:
For neither distressed nor jolted by the height, nor overwhelmed by the weight of his weapons, nor driven by any twisting eddy, nor harmed even by the missiles, which were being hurled from all sides, he successfully swam to safety.
