The virtues of Augustus Compared to those of AeneasAt the beginning of the first century, around 27 BCE, Augustus received a golden shield from the Senate of Rome (Augustus 34) . The shield was a symbol of the fact that the Senate recognized Augustus as the sole ruler of Rome. The “cardinal virtues of a ruler” were inscribed 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 leader'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 represent the ideal Roman citizen, who pursued Roman virtues. Augustus commissioned Virgil to write about these Roman virtues in “The Aeneid,” but to what extent did Augustus reflect these Roman virtues inscribed on his shield? Does Aeneas reflect these virtues as well as Augustus? In order to explore this, I will examine how Aeneas fulfills these "cardinal virtues of a ruler" and compare this to the life of Augustus to see how closely they match. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssayThe Roman Virtue of Virtus, also known as Manhood, Valor, Excellence, Courage, Character and value, is undoubtedly one of the most widespread virtues in the character of Aeneas (Lind 248). We find Aeneas in the first book of “The Aeneid” sailing through a terrible storm. While his men have all but accepted death, Aeneas remains mostly calm and continues to lead his men in the face of certain death. After losing three ships and showing great valor, Aeneas guides his men to the nearest land. Battered and exhausted from his journey, Aeneas does not rest when he reaches the safety of the shore; however, he shows great character by going out and chasing his men away. On his return, he gives a speech. Although he himself is afraid of what the future holds, he shows courage and persuades 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 bravery are clearly seen by Aeneas in the midst of battle. Not only does he kill many Italians single-handedly, but he does it with excellence and honor, except perhaps killing Turnus, the leader of the Italians. There is no question of 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 presents Virtus as an ideal ruler. 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 quite different from that of Aeneas when he conquered Italy. Most likely, Augustus did not fight with heroic strength as the fictional Aeneas did; however, Augustus demonstrated great valor and excellence in his many military victories. In the Res Gestae, an autobiography written by Augustus, there are eight different passages where Augustus highlights his military career to show his bravery and excellence. Of the foreign nations he conquered, he preferred to retain most of them rather than completely destroy them, which he states in the Res Gestae (August 3). His act of sparing those who sought forgiveness from Rome shows his character. Most, if not all,of Augustus' military achievements during his reign as emperor took place without him on the battlefield. Some might think this is an act of cowardice, but it is simply how a leader in his position should have acted. However, before Augustus came to power, he showed himself to be courageous and "capable and efficient". a brave soldier who follows in the tradition of the "old Roman general" during the Illyrian campaigns of 35-33 BC. JC (Benario 1). For the most part, Augustus encompasses the Roman virtue of Virtus, but, between the two, Aeneas is probably more clearly seen as the ideal example of this virtue. The Roman virtue of Pietas, also known as duty, is more than just religious piety. . It is possible to consider it more as a respect for the social, political and religious order of things. Virtue includes ideas of patriotism, fulfilling obligations to gods, family, and ancestors, and honoring other human beings, especially in terms of the relationship of 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 this adjective for the rest of the poem. The second book of “The Aenied” is probably where the greatest number of examples of Aeneas demonstrating Pietas exist. The book is Aeneas' account of the fall of Troy. In which, we see him demonstrate his pious duty towards his family by facilitating their escape from the city. This is especially true regarding Aeneas' father, whom Aeneas carried safely on his shoulders as a sign of piety. At first, Aeneas was entirely devoted to fulfilling his pious duty to his family, but his efforts begin to shift toward pious duty to the gods and to the city of Troy after encountering the ghost of his wife, Creusa. Before leaving the city, we saw Aeneas gathering and taking with him his household gods in order to fulfill his religious obligation to them. Aeneas, now, focuses 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 Pietas. Aeneas will endure many difficulties and trials in order to fulfill this duty to his gods and the fallen city of Troy. Before leaving the city, Aeneas struggled with the thought that he had to fight and die for his city, and it was especially difficult to see his comrades perish when the city knew he had to be with them. However, although it might seem that Aeneas had 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. Pietas' virtue is probably most emphasized throughout the poem, particularly in Virgil's direct comments on the character of Aeneas. It's safe to say that Aeneas is more than ideal when it comes to displaying the Pietas virtue. Also well known for his Pietas, Augustus also sought his pious duty to his family and Rome. In the Res Gestae he writes: "I drove the men who massacred my father into exile 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 this was a simple act of revenge; however, Werner Eck emphasizes in his book “The Age of Augustus” that it was rather an obligation of piety 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. It is not a simple act ofrevenge, but with a pious effort. Augustus also demonstrated Pietas' virtue by improving all of Rome as a duty to his country. He did it in different ways. First, he felt it was his duty to expand the empire, and so he extended it to Egypt, Spain, Galatia, Illyria, and a few other places (Augustus 27-28). As for Augustus fulfilling his duty to the gods, he built many temples. The temples he built were "the temples of Mars, of Jupiter Submissive and Thunder, of Apollo, of the divine Julius, of Minerva, of Queen Juno, of Jupiter Liberator, of the Lares, of the gods of the Penates, of Youth and of the Great Mother" and eighty-two other holy temples (Augustus A1, A3). Augustus even claimed to be the paterfamilias of Rome, which meant that he was the "father" of Rome, and he claimed responsibility of the whole of Rome. It was also a pious duty that he tried to fulfill, and he did so primarily through monetary methods. The amount of money he had spent on Rome was described in the innumerable Res Gestaeas (Augustus A4). Augustus clearly made enormous efforts to pursue the virtue of Pietas, and he provided us with a great realistic example of Roman virtue. Aeneas and Augustus demonstrate this virtue well, and both should be considered an ideal example of this virtue. Clementia's Roman virtue, also known as mercy, meekness, and meekness, and the ability to put aside previous transgressions, seems almost absent in "The Aeneid" (Lind 103). Aske Poulsen, underlines in his essay “Why No Mercy? A Study of Clementia in the Aeneid", that "there is in fact no episode in the Aeneid in which Aeneas is specifically said to exercise Clementia's virtue, and he is never praised by anyone to be merciful” (Poulsen 16). In fact, there are only two episodes in which some might argue that Aeneas depicts this virtue. The first is in book 10, when Aeneas kills Lausus. At this point, Aeneas feels pity for the man and promises to allow him to have a proper burial. It is clear that Aeneas pities him, but he showed no mercy or gentleness towards Lasusus in killing him, which dismisses this as an act of Clementia (Poulsen 16). The second is found 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 represented Clementia in different ways. The first thing he demonstrated was when he pardoned deserters from Lucius Antonius' army (Vahl 14). Later, Augustus, when waging wars against foreign enemies, would show himself merciful and spare his enemies if possible. Clementia was an essential element in wars with foreign enemies in order to not only conquer them but also romanize them (Vahl 15). Because of 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 invented by Augustan and today represents the Clementia he showed to those he conquered. Jessica Vahl, in her work “Imperial Representations of Clementia: From Augustus to Marcus Aurelius”, points out that “Clementia was a virtue that was integral to the peace enjoyed by Rome. It was at this time [during the reign of Augustus] that the idea of ​​clemency leading to peace, security, and prosperity arose” (Vahl 15). In Suetonius's biography of Augustus, we discover that Augustus's evidence of clemency and moderation was numerous and strong. Not only did he pardon and spare many.