Andrew Arth
5.14.2020
Latin 002
Verbum Deep Dive
Virtus, Virtutis
Virtus, Virtutis is a feminine noun meaning manliness, valor, courage, greatness and glory. While it is not a particularly common word, being the 143rd most common word in antiquity, it was a decided favorite of Julius Caesar in his writings on the Gallic War in order to adequately describe his and his company’s successes abroad for the Roman people. The gender is a curious mix up from the norm of nouns which are often used in speaking of conquests, victories, and typical male roles in the Roman world. The word has a distinct connotation which relates it to military conquests and even Sallust used in order to speak of the military gallants and talents of young men. Another strange detail is that it was used to describe the potency of some bodily functions which while a reality, is often not touched upon in the triumphant writings of war time in antiquity. Furthermore, the noun was sometimes reserved for higher powers to describe a heavenly power that is not natural to mere mortals no matter their societal rank. The various connotations and descriptions that virtus embodies makes it a fascinating deep dive because it quite literally has been descriptive of everything from filth to the gods, perhaps hinting at the range that “manliness” can take on. Likewise, it’s flexibility as a word lends credence to the wide use of the word in poetry and prose as it can be morphed and manipulated to fit the author’s needs.
From The Corpus
“est autem virtus nihil aliud quam in se perfecta et ad summum perducta natura,” Cicero. Leg. 1, 8, 25
“esse homines feros magnaeque virtutis” -Julius Caesar, Gallic War