Again an allusion to Aeneas' traits as a leader, and a devotee to the Trojan race. Virgil also uses pietas to describe Aeneas' ancestors, such as describing the two Marcellus', Aeneas' ancestors. They each display heroic traits, such as bravery and leadership skills. So it is clear that Virgil is trying to explore the importance of pietas and it's necessity for Roman society to function, and to avoid the plague the civil wars has brought on her, but is there perhaps an underlying message? Virgil's abrupt and unsettling ending in Book VI and famously in 12 has divided literary scholars and historians ever since the Aeneid's first publication. Aeneas exits out of the underworld from the Ivory Gate, the "false gate." The False gate has been said to represent a false hope, and that everything that Aeneas had witnessed in the underworld was indeed a figment of his imagination. It has also been said that the Gate is meant to represent how the cost of building Rome to such greatness with this supposed pietas was too great. Although it has been argued that Virgil never fully completed the Aeneid (which he indeed didn't), and he supposedly never had enough time to refine his message about pietas. However it is clear that on the surface, Virgil appears to praise pietas, and looks to exemplify it's greatness through Aeneas.
However an explanation is still required for what Virgil intends to ultimately say to his audience about pietas. So what then, based on the facts and circumstances available, is the most likely message? There are 3 compelling theories for the supposed message of pietas. One could talk about how Virgil simply never got a chance to fully complete his work. The reason the message of pietas is vague and ambiguous is because Virgil died before the Aeneid was finished. Virgil certainly intended to go through his works, reviewing any errors, and to finish incomplete lines.
