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PIETAS AND ROMAN
HEROES
Pietas was a quality that was
prized by Romans. It was a
devotion to your family, your
country and the gods. Most
Roman stories of heroism focus
on heroes who exemplify the
quality of pietas.
PUBLIUS HORATIUS COCLES
Horatius Cocles was a soldier in
Republican Rome.
He is most famous for his role
in a battle against the
Etruscans, who were attacking
Rome after the last king of
Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, had
been driven out of the city.
Horatius' job at this battle was
to guard the Sublician Bridge,
which was the only bridge over
the Tiber into the city of Rome.
The fighting was getting heavy.
The Romans were weakening
under the assault of the
Etruscans.
Horatius ordered the Roman soldiers to leave him--to
destroy the bridge behind him so the Etruscans could not
cross into the city.
With the help of two officers, and a pile of corpses to hide
behind, Horatius defended the bridge.
Just as the bridge fell behind him, leaving Horatius facing
the Etruscans, he was shot with an arrow in his behind, and
dove, in full armor, into the water and swam to safety on
the Roman side.
Horatius' story was important to
Romans because he is an example of
someone who sacrificed himself, put
himself in the path of danger, to
protect and defend the city of
Rome. In other words, he showed
pietas, because his devotion to the state
was the most important thing to him.
CAMILLUS
Marcus Furius Camillus was a
Roman soldier. He served Rome
in a particularly tumultuous time
and held several positions in the
military, including tribune.
He distinguished himself in early wars and soon Rome
declared war against the town of Veii, in Etruscan
territory. The seige of Veii was a long process, but
Camillus finally took charge and was successful. He began
by defeating Veii's allies, and then had his men dig
underneath Veii and enter through the sewer system and
take the town. All the women and children were enslaved
and the resulting plunder, which went into Rome's
treasury, was massive.
In the aftermath of his victory, Camillus took on the only
remaining opposition, Falerii, which resulted in all the
Etruscan towns asking for peace with Rome.
,
Camillus' story was not over, though, because when the last
town fell, Falerii, the Romans were upset that there was no
plunder. Camillus was accused of taking it all for
himself. He was offered a choice of exile or of a
fine. When his friends offered to pay the fine, he refused
and went into exile with his family.
Camillus was now a private citizen and no longer a soldier.
However, the Gauls were attacking Rome and Camillus, even
though he had been exiled and wrongly accused, organized
forces to fight the Gauls. After a sound victory, he was
elected general by the Romans to deal with the Gauls all
together, once and for all.
Camillus was the longest standing dictator in
Roman history. His pietas was evident, as
he felt such devotion to Rome that he
fought for it, even though he had been
rejected by the city. Were it not for him,
Rome might have fallen to the Gauls.
LUCIUS QUINCTIUS
CINCINNATUS
Cincinnatus was a consul of
Rome, who was forced to live
very simply after his son was
tried and convicted without
even being present. He was an
outspoken opponent of the
lower classes in Rome and as a
result was very unpopular. He
tended a small farm.
As you saw in the previous picture, Cincinnatus was
minding his own business on his farm when Rome was
invaded.
The Romans had a policy whereby if there was a crisis, a
dictator could be elected until the crisis was over.
Much to Cincinnatus' surprise, he was the one chosen
dictator. He put down his plow and led the Romans to
victory.
What is significant about
Cincinnatus is the fact that the
minute the crisis was over, he
had no problem giving up
ultimate power and returning to
his farm. The Romans lauded
him as an example of civic
virtue and how everyone can
contribute to the greater good.
GAIUS MUCIUS SCAEVOLA
The Etruscans, under the leadership of their
king, Lars Porsenna, were beseiging
Rome. Mucius snuck into the Etruscan camp
under the cover of darkness to kill
Porsenna. But he made a mistake and killed the
wrong man. He was also captured.
Mucius was brought before
Porsenna, and avowed his love
of Rome and said that he was
not afraid to die in pursuit of
his enemy.
Porsenna ordered Mucius to be burned alive. Not
blinking, Mucius thrust his right hand into the
fire and watched it burn, not making a
sound. As you will see in the next slide, he
faced Porsenna's death sentence with pride and
bravery. When Porsenna saw how Mucius
reacted to pain, and heard Mucius say there was
a whole army just like him, ready to die to
defend Rome, Porsenna let him go.
What is significant about
Mucius, who earned the
nickname "Scaevola" or "lefty"
from his adventure is that he
showed a devotion to the state
of Rome, or pietas.
CLOELIA
Cloelia was a Roman girl who was
being held hostage by the
Etruscan king, Lars Porsenna.
Cloelia somehow managed to escape and
lead several other Roman girls with her
as they swam for safety. As you might
imagine, at first Porsenna was very
upset that his hostages had
escaped. The more he thought about it
though, the more his anger turned to
admiration, and he soon offered Cloelia
a deal she had to debate.
He said that if Cloelia would return to him, and stay until
the war was over, he would return her safely to her
parents. As you can imagine, this was terrifying for
Cloelia, but she was smart, and she realized that she could
probably help Rome more if she went back to be one of
Porsenna's hostages.
Cloelia was honored by the Romans for her fast thinking
and for the fact that once she went back to Porsenna she
helped convince him to send back other hostages.
Obviously the Romans thought she showed great pietas.
THE HORATII
According to the historian Livy, The Horatii
were three Roman triplets. As you see in the
Jacques Louis David painting above, called the
Oath of the Horatii, there are three of them.
It was agreed upon by the people of Rome and Alba Longa that the
battle would be decided by having the Horatii fight against the
Curiatii, triplets from Alba Longa.
As the fight went on, two of the Horatii were killed and all of the
Curatii were wounded. The final Horatius ran and the wounds of
the Curatii slowed them down and separated them. The Horatius
was able to turn and kill each one.
When the victorious Horatius returned carrying his plunder from
his victory, his sister cried because she had been engaged to one
of the Curatii. the Horatius killed her, saying that no Roman
should mourn an enemy.
He was convicted of murder,
but set free on an appeal to the
people of Rome, who thought
that he was right to put the
concerns of the state of Rome
before his sister's personal
concerns. This is another
example of pietas.