Virtues

• Spiritual Authority — The sense of one's social standing, built up through experience, sense of duty, and industry.
• Humor — Balanced perspective and power in a powerless situation.
• Perseverance — Military stamina, mental and physical endurance.
• Mercy — Mildness and gentleness.
• Dignity — A sense of self-worth, personal pride.
• Discipline — Military oath under Roman protective law & citizenship.
• Tenacity — Strength of mind, the ability to stick to one's purpose.
• Frugality — Economy and simplicity of style, without being miserly.
• Gravity — A sense of the importance of the matter at hand, responsibility and earnestness.
• Respectability — The image that one presents as a respectable member of society.
• Humanity — Refinement, civilization, learning, and being cultured.
• Industry — Hard work.
• Justice — Sense of moral worth to an action.
• Dutifulness — More than religious piety; a respect for the natural order socially, politically, and religiously. Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to others.
• Prudence — Foresight, wisdom, and personal discretion.
• Wholesomeness — Health and cleanliness.
• Sternness — Gravity, self-control.
• Truthfulness — Honesty in dealing with others.
• Manliness — Valor, excellence, courage, character, and worth. Vir meaning "man" (don't worry women, I extrapolate a little on this virtue).

Opinion

For Augustine, Rome became a great power because its citizens did not care about self-interest narrowly understood (monetary gain). Instead, they had a consuming passion for fame and glory. This passionate love of glory was the cause of great acts of courage and devotion to the cause of Rome. Divine providence rewarded the Romans by giving them a great empire and a universal fame. The current setbacks of the Empire should give one no reason to complain about the justice of God. The Romans have received their reward in full. From a Christian perspective, Roman virtues are admirable in a sense, but they are worthless in the final analysis because they have the sin of pride as their single source. Glory, Augustine says, "is puffed up with empty conceit." Consequently, "it's most improper that the Virtues, with their solidity and strength, should be their servants." This applies even to those who "pay no heed to the opinions of others" and "esteem themselves as wise men and win their own approval," because "the man who wins his own approval, is still a man," and as such, his virtue is still "dependent on the praise of man." Augustine's final word on the Roman Empire is the famous distinction between the earthly city, "created by self-love (amor sui)," and the Heavenly City, created "by the love of God." The earthy city "looks for glory from men," while the Heavenly City "finds its highest glory in God."

Recommended Reading

Marcus Aurelius: A Biography (Roman Imperial Biographies) — by Anthony Richard Birley

Anthony Richard Birley reconstructs the life of Marcus Aurelius, Roman Emperor (161-180 A.D) and Stoic philosopher, remembered by history as the author of "Meditations".

The Fall of the Roman Empire: A New History of Rome and the Barbarians — by Peter Heather

This groundbreaking book describes the later Roman Empire, the 'barbarians' who invaded it, and the post-Roman successor states generated by the collision.