Familial Pietas

Pietas, one of the core Roman virtues, has no direct translation into English. It can be understood as ‘duty’, ‘respect’, ‘loyalty’, or even ‘religious behaviour’. The mark of a good Roman was to display pietas, both to the gods, and to one’s family. Therefore, it is unsurprising that the theme of pietas appears to consistently and prominently in Sextus Pompeius’ coinage. Sextus highlights his filial duty, forming virtuous connections to both his father, Pompey the Great, and his elder brother, Gnaeus Pompeius the Younger. Sextus also successfully established parallels between his own family and mythic narratives which promoted familial pietas, in an effort to further present himself as a good Roman, with proper Roman values.