Ancient Rome

In Ancient Rome there were many traditional ideologies that were in place in the civilisation that existed. The society that the people lived in was ruled by many values and customs. These helped the citizens, especially men, to live their lives in the proper way. The lives of these people were also ruled by the idea of fate. The Romans lived in a time of superstition and when all that dictated their lives was the conformity of hierarchy in state, the religion and fate. Rome wasn’t an empire until Augustus became emperor and he was the first. Augustus himself revived the religion that was practiced by most people living in this empire. Virgil’s original purpose to writing the Aeneid was to tell the story of Roman Empire’s origins, but also to act as a political propaganda. The whole aim of Aeneas’ journey was to create a civilisation that surpassed humanity and the gods in pietas and other values. By doing this Virgil would enhance the idea that Rome was a civilisation that was above all the other people. It also solidified the success of the empire in conquering most of their known world. By creating a hero that was devoted and loyal to his country, Virgil created a parallel to the image of the emperor Augustus. The Aeneid set the social norm for people in ancient Rome and filled them with the idea that as a society they were favoured by the gods. People were helped to understand that if you did as Aeneas himself did and show great respect towards the gods, and made many prayers and sacrifices to them, your life would significantly improve. Virgil ended up dying on the 21st of September 19BC, and didn’t finish his epic poem. He actually requested that the Aeneid was to be burned, instead of publishing it unfinished. Augustus and the friends he had asked to follow through with this, ignored his dying wish and ended up publishing it a while later. Because Virgil died before he finished his poem, that is why the ending is so abrupt and a few of his lines don’t follow the same hexameter. There have also been many scholarly debates on whether some of the poem was modified by Augustus to fit with his good image, but it has never been proven.

The Romans followed the unwritten code of mos maiorum or “ancestral custom”. From this concept, the Romans derived their social norm and it is a core concept of the other Roman values. Mos maiorum was actually a network of customs, ways for the people of Rome to live their lives, following the idyllic ideas from the past, when people were said to have better morals. One part of mos maiorum would be the idea or value of pietas. Pietas roughly translates to the meaning of “duty” or “religiosity”. To be pious or to show pietas meant that the person was respectful. This respectfulness is extend towards gods, family, parents, followers and the homeland, and is also attributed as fulfilling duties to these people. It is the idea to devote oneself to an achievement or accomplishment without

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