Virtus Romana: Politics And Morality In The Rom... -

Scholars of Roman history, historiography, and intellectual history, as well as advanced undergraduates.

Balmaceda highlights a dichotomy between virilis-virtus (manly courage in war) and humana-virtus (moral virtues like justice and clemency). Book Details Virtus Romana: Politics and Morality in the Rom...

Catalina Balmaceda , Associate Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (2017). Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press (2017)

Historians served as "promoters of change," using the concept of virtus to help Romans redefine their identity as they moved from citizen-soldiers of a Republic to subjects of an Emperor. He argues that the loss of external threats

Views virtus through the lens of decline. He argues that the loss of external threats ( metus hostilis ) led the Roman nobility to abandon true service to the state, replacing virtus with vices like avarice and ambition.

Adapts the concept for life under autocracy. Under tyrannical rule, virtus becomes less about public glory and more about "private" qualities like constancy, moderation, and endurance . Key Takeaways