The virtues of Augustus compared to Aeneas In the early first century, around 27 BCE, Augustus received a golden shield from the Senate of Rome (Augustus 34). The shield was a symbol that the Senate recognized Augustus as the sole ruler of Rome. The "cardinal virtues of a sovereign" were engraved on the shield; Virtus, Pietas, Clementia, Iustitia, which in English means valor, piety, clemency, and justice (Wallace-Hadrill 300). The choice of virtues displayed depended on assumptions about what a ruler's "ideals" were (Wallace-Hadrill 299). A very similar shield was depicted in Virgil's work, “The Aenied”. Aeneas received the shield from his mother, Venus, just before going to war. The character of Aeneas was developed by Virgil to portray the ideal Roman citizen, who pursued Roman virtues. Augustus commissioned Virgil to write about these Roman virtues in the Aeneid, but how well does Augustus reflect those Roman virtues that are inscribed on his shield? Does Aeneas reflect those virtues as well as Augustus does? To explore this, I will examine how Aeneas fulfills these “cardinal virtues of a ruler” and compare it to the life of Augustus to see how well they match. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The Roman virtue of Virtus, also known as virility, valor, excellence, courage, character, and valor, is undoubtedly that of the most prevalent virtues in the character of Aeneas (Lind 248). We find Aeneas in the first book of the Aeneid going through a terrible storm. While his men have all but accepted death, Aeneas for the most part remains calm and continues to lead his men in the face of certain death. After losing three ships and demonstrating great valor, Aeneas leads his men towards the nearest land. Defeated and worn out by the journey, Aeneas does not rest when he reaches the safety of the shore; however, he shows great character by going after his men. Upon his return he gives a speech. Although he is afraid of what the future holds, he shows courage and convinces his men to move forward. In books ten to twelve we find Aeneas on the battlefield with the Italians who prevent him from founding Rome. Courage and valor are clearly seen by Aeneas in the midst of battle. Not only does he kill many Italians himself, but he does so with excellence and honor, except perhaps when he kills Turnus, the leader of the Italians. There is no doubt about Aeneas' manhood after reading about this battle, especially when reading about the many men he had killed. There is no doubt that Aeneas is an excellent example of the Roman virtue of Virtus. On the other hand, Augustus also shows Virtus what an ideal ruler should be like. Shortly after coming to power after defeating Mark Antony at the Battle of Actium, he set out to conquer the known world. His conquest of the world was slightly different than when Aeneas conquered Italy. Most likely, Augustus did not fight with heroic strength as the fictional Aeneas did; however, Augustus displays great valor and excellence in his numerous military victories. In the Res Gestae, an autobiography written by Augustus, there are eight different passages in which Augustus highlights his military career to show his valor and excellence. Of the foreign nations he conquered, he preferred to preserve most of them rather than completely destroy them, as he states in the Res Gestae (Augustus 3). His act of sparing those who asked Rome for forgiveness shows his character. Many, if not all, of Augustus' military exploits during his reign as emperor took place without him on the battlefield. Some may think this is an act of cowardice, but it was simply just the way of a ruler in hisposition should have behaved. However, before Augustus came to power, he proved himself a courageous and “capable and courageous soldier who fits into the tradition of the 'old Roman general'” during the Illyrian campaigns of 35-33 BC (Benario 1). For the most part, Augustus embodies the Roman virtue of Virtus, but, between the two, Aeneas is probably most clearly seen as the ideal example of this virtue. The Roman virtue of Pietas, also known as respect, is more than just religious piety. . It is possible to think of it rather as a respect for the social, political and religious order of things. Virtue includes ideas of patriotism, fulfilling obligations to the gods, family, and ancestors, and honoring other human beings, especially in terms of relationships with patron and client, which was essential to Roman society (Mattingly 104, 114) . Virgil in the first two lines of “The Aenied” describes Aeneas as “pious” and continues to refer to him with that adjective for the rest of the poem. The second book of “The Aenied” is probably where most examples of Aeneas demonstrating Pietas exist. The book is Aeneas' retelling of the fall of Troy. In which we see him exhibiting his pious duty towards his family by facilitating their escape from the city. This is especially true regarding Aeneas' father, whom Aeneas carried to safety on his shoulders as an act of mercy. At first, Aeneas was completely dedicated to fulfilling his pious duty to his family, but his efforts begin to shift towards pious duty to the gods and to the city of Troy after he encounters the ghost of his wife Creusa. Before leaving the city, we saw Aeneas gather and bring with him his household gods to fulfill his religious obligations to them. Aeneas is now focused on his duty to the city and plans to follow Creusa and Hector's orders to leave and found a "new" Troy. This is not a simple act of mercy. Aeneas will endure many hardships and trials to fulfill this duty to his gods and the fallen city of Troy. Before leaving the city, Aeneas struggled with the thought that he would have to fight and die for his city, and it was especially hard to see his fellow soldiers die with the city knowing that he should be with them. However, although it might appear that Aeneas abandoned his pious duty to Troy, he was actually doing the opposite by trying to preserve what he could to found the “new” Troy. He gave up everything to fulfill his pious duty, which makes Aeneas' piety legendary. The virtue of Pietas is probably the most underlined throughout the poem, especially in Virgil's direct comments on the character of Aeneas. It's pretty safe to say that Aeneas is more than ideal when it comes to displaying Pietas virtue. Also well known for his Pietas, Augustus also sought his pious duty towards his family and Rome. In the Res Gestae he writes: «I drove into exile the men who murdered my father with a legal order, punishing their crime, and then, when they made war on the State, I defeated them in two battles» (Augustus 2). . Some might argue that it was a simple act of revenge; however Werner Eck in his book “The Age of Augustus” underlines that it was rather an obligation of mercy towards his adoptive father (Eck 11). It was his pious duty to his father that led him to exile these men and ultimately defeat them in battle. This is not a simple act of revenge, but a pious effort. Augustus also demonstrated the virtue of Piety by improving all of Rome as a duty to his country. He did it a couple of different ways. First, he felt it was his duty to expand the empire, and he expanded it into Egypt, Spain, Galatia, Illyria, and some other places (Augustus 27-28). Regarding the fulfillment of thehis duty to the gods, Augustus built numerous temples. The temples he built were "the temples of Mars, of Jupiter the Subjugator and the Thunderer, of Apollo, of the divine Julius, of Minerva, of Queen Juno, of Jupiter the Liberator, of the Lares, of the gods of the Penates, of Youth, and of the Great Mother” and eighty-two other sacred temples (Augustus A1, A3). Augustus even claimed to be the paterfamilias of Rome, which meant he was the “father” of Rome, and claimed responsibility for all of Rome. This too was a pious duty which he sought to fulfill, and he did so mainly through monetary methods. The sum of money he had spent on Rome is described in the countless Res Gestaeas (Augustus A4). Augustus clearly made enormous efforts to pursue the virtue of pietas and provided us with a great realistic example of Roman virtue. Both Aeneas and Augustus demonstrate this virtue well, and both should be seen as an ideal example of this virtue. Clementia's Roman virtue, also known as mercy, meekness, and sweetness, and the ability to put aside previous transgressions, seems almost missing from “The Aeneid” (Lind 103). Aske Poulsen, underlines in his essay “Why no mercy? A Study of Clementia in the Aeneid,” that “there are in fact no episodes in the Aeneid in which Aeneas is specifically said to exercise the virtue of Clementia, nor is he ever praised by anyone for being clement” (Poulsen 16). In fact, there are only two episodes in which some might argue that Aeneas represents this virtue. The first is in book 10, when Aeneas kills Lausus. At this moment Aeneas feels pity for the man and promises to allow him a dignified burial. It is clear that Aeneas takes pity on him, but he showed no mercy or kindness towards Lasusus by killing him, which dismisses this as an act of Clementia (Poulsen 16). The second is in book eleven when Aeneas agrees to a temporary truce, but again this does not exactly show an act of Clementia (Poulsen 16). Aeneas is simply not Clementia's ideal example of Roman virtue. Unlike Aeneas, Augustus showed Clementia in many different ways. The first of which he showed was when he pardoned the deserters from Lucius Antony's army (Vahl 14). Later, Augustus, when waging wars against foreign enemies, would be merciful and, if possible, spare his enemies. Clementia was an essential element in wars with foreign enemies not only to conquer them but also to Romanize them (Vahl 15). For this mercy, Augustus was framed in a bronze statue where he extends his right hand towards a kneeling barbarian of Paris (Vahl 16). This right hand gesture was coined by Augustus and now represents the Clementia he showed to those he conquered. Jessica Vahl, in her work “Imperial Representations of Clementia: From Augustus to Marcus Aurelius”, emphasizes that “Clementia was a virtue that was an integral part of the peace that Rome enjoyed. It is at this point [during the reign of Augustus] that the idea of ​​clemency leading to peace, security, and prosperity is brought to the fore” (Vahl 15). In Suetonius's biography of Augustus, we find that the evidence of Augustus's clemency and moderation was numerous and strong. He not only pardoned and spared many, but also allowed them to hold high positions in the state (Tranquillus 206). The acts of Clementia of Augustus were nothing short of impressive. When compared to Aeneas's Clementia, Augustus's surpasses his in almost every way. The Roman virtue of Iustitia, or justice and sense of the moral value of an action, is another virtue that is also quite suppressed in the character of Aeneas. One of the only examples is when Aeneas kills Turnus in the twelfth book. Turnus, already mortally wounded, begged Aeneas to spare his life. Aeneas debated with himself whether to spare him or not, until he remembered.