Virtuous Verecundia Open Access

Abstract

In this thesis, I strive to show how Ancient Romans may have considered verecundia a virtue. Verecundia is quite a difficult word to translate into the modern English language. In translations, verecundia is often referred to as “an attitude of restraint” or “a sense of shame.” With this in mind, there is a considerable amount of scholarship that identifies verecundia as an emotion. Furthermore, in Henry Wheatland Litchfield’s foundational article, “National Exempla Virtvtis in Roman Literature,” he does not include verecundia on his list of exemplary virtues but includes other forms of modesty and restraint. After meticulously analyzing numerous usages of verecundia throughout all Latin literature, I conjecture that verecundia should be considered a virtue just as much as an emotion. In Chapter 1, I aim to define verecundia by examining verecundia in early Latin comedy, contextualizing verecundia amongst other virtues, and summarizing recent scholarship. Chapter 2 serves as my effort to prove verecundia is a virtue using a variety of Cicero’s works. In Chapter 3, I apply my definition of verecundia to Livy’s moral exempla to demonstrate how Livy perceived verecundia as a desirable quality in historical figures. Finally, Chapter 4 discusses how verecundia fits within Stoic situational ethics and how perhaps Romans considered verecundia in the early empire through municipal inscriptions and Valerius Maximus’ Facta et Memorabilia. 

Table of Contents

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Verecundia, what is it? 1-18

Chapter 2: Cicero 19-34

Chapter 3: Livy 35-55

Chapter 4: Verecundia’s Greater Inclusion as a Virtue 56-63

Conclusion 63-64

Bibliography 66-69

About this Honors Thesis

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School	Emory College
Department	Classics
Degree	B.A.
Submission	Honors Thesis
Language	English
Research Field	Classical Studies
Keyword	classics virtue verecundia emotion
Committee Chair / Thesis Advisor	Dr. Emily Master, Emory University
Committee Members	Dr. Niall Slater, Emory University Dr. Yun Kim, Emory University

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