Seven virtues

[3] Prior to Ambrose, these four qualities were identified by the Greek philosopher Plato as the necessary character traits of a good man, and were discussed by other ancient authors such as Cicero.

"[5] The third virtue is also commonly referred to as "charity", as this is how the influential King James Bible translated the Greek word agape.

The traditional understanding of the difference between cardinal and theological virtues is that the latter are not fully accessible to humans in their natural state without assistance from God.

Prudentius, writing in the 5th century, was the first author to allegorically represent Christian morality as a struggle between seven sins and seven virtues.

[9] However, Prudentius did not base his allegory on the cardinal and theological virtues, nor did he use the traditional list of capital vices.