Pietas Introduction

Pietas is translated as duty, loyalty, and devotion, specifically to one's parents and ancestors. It was one of the chief virtues among the ancient Romans. It was also the distinguishing virtue of the founding hero, Aeneas, who, as he and his family were fleeing their home city of Troy, which had been destroyed by the Greeks, he said, "So come on, dear father, place yourself upon my neck. I shall support you with my shoulders. That task will not weigh me down. Wherever things will fall for the both of us, there will be one shared danger, one safety."

Aeneas embodied the virtue of pietas, and what we call today citizenship. In this lesson, we're going to focus on understanding the importance of being a good citizen, being an active member of your community, and how to go about building meaningful relationships as it relates to returning home from active service. Our guest lecturer for this lesson is Sebastian Junger, a New York Times bestselling author and war correspondent. He will discuss his new book Tribe and how service members returning home can be leaders in their communities by continuing to find ways to serve. I hope you enjoy this lesson, so let's get started.