▁State ▁Football <0x0A> </s> ▁For ▁the ▁late ▁medieval ▁religious ▁movement , ▁see ▁Dev ot io ▁Mod erna . ▁See ▁also ▁Dev otion ▁( disambiguation ). ▁In ▁ancient ▁Roman ▁religion , ▁the ▁dev ot io ▁was ▁an ▁extreme ▁form ▁of ▁vot um ▁in ▁which ▁a ▁Roman ▁general ▁v owed ▁to ▁sacrifice ▁his ▁own ▁life ▁in ▁battle ▁along ▁with ▁the ▁enemy ▁to ▁ch th onic ▁gods ▁in ▁exchange ▁for ▁a ▁victory . ▁The ▁most ▁extended ▁description ▁of ▁the ▁rit ual ▁is ▁given ▁by ▁the ▁August an ▁historian ▁Liv y , ▁regarding ▁the ▁self - s ac rifice ▁of ▁De cius ▁Mus . ▁The ▁English ▁word ▁" dev otion " ▁der ives ▁from ▁the ▁Latin . ▁ ▁Dev ot io ▁may ▁be ▁a ▁form ▁of ▁consec rat io , ▁a ▁rit ual ▁by ▁means ▁of ▁which ▁something ▁was ▁consec r ated ▁to ▁the ▁gods . ▁The ▁dev ot io ▁has ▁sometimes ▁been ▁interpreted ▁in ▁light ▁of ▁human ▁sacrifice ▁in ▁ancient ▁Rome , ▁and ▁Walter ▁Bur k ert ▁saw ▁it ▁as ▁a ▁form ▁of ▁sc ap ego at ▁or ▁ph arm ak os ▁rit ual . ▁By ▁the ▁ 1 st ▁century ▁BC , ▁dev ot io ▁could ▁mean ▁more ▁generally ▁" any ▁prayer ▁or ▁rit ual ▁that ▁cons igned ▁some ▁person ▁or ▁thing ▁to ▁the ▁gods ▁of ▁the ▁under world ▁for ▁destruction ." ▁ ▁The ▁inv ocation ▁Liv y ▁pres erves ▁the ▁prayer ▁formula ▁used ▁for ▁making ▁a ▁dev ot io . ▁Although ▁Liv y ▁was ▁writing ▁at ▁a ▁time ▁when ▁the ▁religious ▁innov ations ▁of