Roman Moral Values

Roman values defined relationships with other people and with the gods. Romans guided their lives by the mos maiorum (“the way of the elders”), values passed down from their ancestors. The Romans preserved these values because, for them, old equaled “tested by time,” while new meant “dangerous.” Roman morality emphasized virtue, faithfulness, and respect. A reputation for behaving morally was crucial to Romans because it earned them the respect of others.

Virtus (“manly virtue”) meant strength, loyalty, and courage, especially in war. It also included wisdom and moral purity; in this broader sense, women, too, could possess virtus. In the second century B.C.E., the Roman poet Lucilius defined it this way:

Virtus is to know the human relevance of each thing,

To know what is humanly right and useful and honorable,

And what things are good and what are bad, useless, shameful, and dishonorable. . . .

And, in addition, virtus is putting the country’s interests first,

Then our parents’, with our own interests third and last.

Fides (FEE dehs, “faithfulness”) meant keeping one’s obligations no matter the cost. Failing to meet an obligation offended the community and the gods. Faithful women remained virgins before marriage and monogamous afterward. Faithful men kept their word, paid their debts, and treated everyone with justice—which did not mean treating everyone equally, but rather appropriately, according to whether the person was a social superior, an equal, or an inferior. Showing respect and devotion to the gods and to one’s family was the supreme form of faithfulness. Romans believed they had to worship the gods faithfully to maintain the divine favor that protected their community.

Roman values required that each person maintain self-control and limit displays of emotion. So strict was this value that not even wives and husbands could kiss in public without seeming emotionally out of control. It also meant that a person should never give up no matter how hard the situation.

The reward for living these values was respect from others. Women earned respect by bearing legitimate children and educating them morally. Respected men relied on their reputations to help them win election to the republic’s government posts. A man of the highest reputation commanded so much respect that others would obey him regardless of whether he held an office with formal power over them. A man with this much prestige was said to possess authority. The concept of authority based on respect reflected the Roman belief that some people were by nature superior to others and that society had to be hierarchical to be just. Romans believed that aristocrats, people born into the “best” families, automatically deserved high respect. In return, aristocrats were supposed to live strictly by the highest values to serve the community.

In legends about the early days of Rome, a person could be poor and still remain a proud aristocrat. Over time, however, money became overwhelmingly important to the Roman elite, to spend on showy luxuries, large-scale entertaining, and costly gifts to the community. In this way, wealth became necessary to maintain high social status.