In the sixth century BCE, the king of Clusium (a city in Tuscany) attacked Rome. A one-eyed junior officer, Publius Horatius Cocles, took up the task of defending a key bridge, the Pons Sublicius, when his more senior officers were casting about in confusion. Centuries later, the English historian, politician and poet Thomas Babington MaCaulay immortalized Horatius’ valiant actions in his Lays of Ancient Rome:

Then out spake brave Horatius, The Captain of the Gate: “To every man upon this earth Death cometh soon or late. And how can man die better Than facing fearful odds, For the ashes of his fathers, And the temples of his gods?”

Hearing these stirring lines, who does not aspire to the heroic and honorable role of gatekeeper?