Virtus is asteroid #494 and also known as 1902 JV. Virtus is of the type C or Ch. Virtus’ orbit is characterized by a semi-major axis of 2.99 Astronomical Units, an eccentricity of 0.06, a period of revolution of 1 887 days, and an inclination of 7.1 degrees. Virtus was discovered by the German (from Baden, a grand-dukedom with Karlsruhe as the capital, while Germany still didn’t exist) astronomer Maximilian Franz Joseph Cornelius Wolf, usually referred to as Max Wolf, at the Heidelberg-Königstuhl State Observatory (Landessternwarte Heidelberg-Königstuhl).

Virtus is named after the Roman goddess for soldierly bravery. Ovid found ridiculous that she’s female, although having the word vir = man in her name in addition to representing a soldierly virtue. The word virtus is of female gender, so Virtus was usually portrayed as female, but aged and sometimes also as an old man. Her temples usually got financed by spoils of war. While Virtus was highly estimated during the time, when Rome still was a functioning republic, her cult existed only formally after Rome had become an empire. The asteroid #494, too, is a representative of bravery.