First and second consulship

In 309 BC he served as a legate under the dictator Lucius Papirius Cursor and the next year he was elected consul again, this time with Quintus Fabius Maximus Rullianus as his colleague. While his colleague handled the war against Samnium, Mus was entrusted the war against the Etruscans in which he was so successful that the Etruscans sued for a truce.

In 306 BC Mus was appointed as the Master of the Horse to the dictator Publius Cornelius Scipio Barbatus. In 304 BC, Mus and Rullianus were elected censor. In 300 BC Mus successfully espoused the cause of opening the pontificate to the plebeians against Appius Claudius Caecus.

Third Samnite War

The Third Samnite War, had thrown up a formidable coalition of Etruscans, Samnites, Umbrians and Gauls against Rome. When Rullianus was unanimously called to the consul­ship, he stipulated as a condition for accepting that Mus again be his colleague so in 295 BC Mus was elected to a fourth consulship. While Mus was first stationed in Samnium, events up north dictated that both Roman armies be united to face the enemy. When the armies clashed near Sentinum, Publius Decius Mus commanded the left wing of the Roman army. Faced by the Gauls, his troops started giving away under their attacks and Mus followed the example of his father and dedicated himself and the enemy army to the gods of the underworld and thus fell in the battle.

Publius Decius Mus was the father of the consul of 279 BC, Publius Decius Mus.

References

• Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita ix. 40, 41, 44, 46, x. 7—.9, 14—-17, 22, 24- 26—29.