'Virtus' is a bit more complicated in Latin. It's origin is in 'Vir', which means 'a man'- but it's 'a man' as used in the sense of
"You'll be a man my son" or
"A man's got to do what a man's got to do"
Implied in the word 'virtus' is the best of what a man can be.
You'd get closer to the feel of it with:-
"Without heroism, there's no fame."
My old school motto was "Virtutem Petamus" - often modified by the Latin scholars into "Virginem Petamus"
Cheers
Dave