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Rome's Vestal Virgins: Public Spectacle and Society Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship 2012 Rome's vestal virgins: public spectacle and society Joshua M. (Joshua Michael) Roberts Western Washington University Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the History Commons Recommended Citation Roberts, Joshua M. (Joshua Michael), "Rome's vestal virgins: public spectacle and society" (2012). WWU Graduate School Collection. 188. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/188 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ROME’S VESTAL VIRGINS: PUBLIC SPECTACLE AND SOCIETY By Joshua Michael Roberts Accepted in Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Moheb A. Ghali, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Steven Garfinkle Dr. Peter Diehl Dr. Amanda Eurich MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non- exclusive royalty-free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books. Library users are granted permission for individual, research and non-commercial reproduction of this work for educational purposes only. Any further digital posting of this document requires specific permission from the author. Any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, is not allowed without my written permission. Joshua Michael Roberts January 19, 2012 ROME’S VESTAL VIRGINS: PUBLIC SPECTACLE AND SOCIETY A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Western Washington University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Joshua Michael Roberts January 2012 iv ABSTRACT The city of Rome developed from a small agricultural village near a small river on the Italian peninsula into the capital of an empire encompassing the entire Mediterranean world and its hinterlands beyond. The Romans themselves attributed the success of their city and society, in part, to their piety. The priesthood of Vesta and the sacred flame that burned within the goddess’s temple symbolize Rome and its denizens. The women who served in this priesthood maintained a sacred and undying flame and performed a variety of other significant religious tasks in order to perpetuate Rome’s achievements. The rigorous process through which a young Roman girl became a Vestal priestess set her apart from society and conferred a status on her that enabled her to be venerated, modeled and representative of the ideal Roman society. The important religious duties the Vestals performed and the rituals in which they directly or indirectly participated permitted the priesthood to represent and unify various demographic categories. Furthermore, the Vestals and their religious role connected Roman society to its past and functioned to instill a collective identity of what it meant to be a Roman. The significance of this function is demonstrated by the accusation and potential execution of a priestess for failing to live up to these expectations through violating her vow of virginity. This work endeavors to understand the status of the women in this priesthood in Roman society. Their ability to unify the collective and create a common identity in a rigidly categorized and divided society across a millennium of history suggests that the Vestals functioned as a public spectacle. v ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge and thank each member of my thesis committee for their patience and advice throughout the course of this endeavor. I appreciate the guidance and time that Dr. Garfinkle, the chair of my committee, devoted to revising several drafts of this work. I would also like to thank Dr. Diehl and Dr. Eurich for reading a draft and participating in my thesis defense. I am also in debt to Eduardo Engelsing, Dr. Diehl and Elke Dinter for their instruction and assistance over the years in the development of my Latin and German skills. This work would not have been possible without their encouragement. Furthermore, I would like to express my gratitude to all other individuals who read drafts of this work and provided valuable suggestions that have only benefited it. vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract………………………………………….……………………………………………iv Acknowledgments……………………………………………………………………………..v Chapter 1: Introduction…………………………………………………………………….....1 Methodology…………………………………………………………………………..7 Primary Sources…………………………………………………………….………..10 Historiography……………………………………………………………….……....19 Origins of Vesta and the Vestals……………………………………………………..25 Chapter 2: Induction and Appearance: The Vestal as a Visual Other………………..….…..30 Spectacle……………………………………………………………………...……...31 Qualifications of Selection…………………………………………………….…..…39 Methods of Selection………………………………………………………….….….48 Captio Ceremony………………………………………………………………...…..53 Appearance…………………………………………………………………….….…59 Chapter 3: Duty and Privilege: The Vestal as Public Spectacle……………………….…....67 Private and Public…………………………………………………………….….…..68 Duties in the Aedes Vestae……………………………………………………….…..72 Rites………………………………………………………………………….….…...82 Privileges…………………………………………………………………….…….…93 Chapter 4: Accusation and Execution: Spectaculum Maximum…………………………...102 Sexual Status……………………………………………………………………….103 Accusations…………………………………………………………………...……107 Judicial Process………………………………………………………………...…..118 Execution……………………………………………………………………...…...129 Chapter 5: Conclusion………………………………………………………………….….138 Bibliography……………………………………...…………………………………..….…143 Plates………………………………………………………………………………….....…153 INTRODUCTION By the first century the city-state of Rome had developed from a small agricultural village on the bank of the Tiber into the cultural and political hegemon of the Mediterranean Sea, Britain and substantial portions of the modern Middle East.1 The central location of the Italian peninsula and Rome was well suited to function as the capital of this ‘Middle Sea’, which effectively became a Roman lake following the advent of expansion outside of Italy during the third century BCE. This once impoverished and fragile community, traditionally founded in 753 BCE, exercised authority over this vast expanse of territory and the multitude of cultures along its shores and hinterland. While historians have pondered the means and nature of Roman success on the historical stage, few have considered a perspective that at least some Romans themselves posited. The first century BCE poet Horace echoes at least the elite’s sentiment for his culture’s achievements, “I shall increase and become ever more praised as long as the priest and silent Vestal solemnly climb 1 All dates refer to the common era unless otherwise specified. 2 the Capitoline Hill.”2 Although Horace is specifically referring to himself, certainly his audience would have understood the collective allegory of the priests and Vestals climbing this hill. Roman society would thrive so long as its people remained pious. The subject of this work, the priesthood of Vesta and its priestesses, as Horace specifically mentions, was one of the symbols and expressions of this piety. According to Roman tradition, the priesthood of Vesta was established during the reign of the Etruscan king Numa Pompilius, who is reported to have reigned 715-673 BCE.3 The women devoted to the priesthood, hereafter referred to as Vestals, functioned as a microcosm of Rome. The Vestals and their relationship to Roman society was not static, they performed a variety of tasks throughout the priesthood’s millennium long existence. In addition to witnessing and participating in numerous religious rituals and duties, these women were entrusted with maintaining the sacred flame that burned in the temple of Vesta. So long as Vesta’s sacred flame burned inside the temple located in the Roman forum, the Romans believed that their society and culture would incessantly thrive.4 Society generously compensated these women with a variety of unique privileges and rights denied to most women. On the other hand, if a priestess failed to uphold her end of this social and religious contract, she faced the possibility of incrimination, a trial and, if convicted, execution. Like the institution of religion in general, these conspicuous women were inextricably linked to the Roman state and their unique position in Roman society was derived from this 2 “…usque ego postera; crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium; scandet cum tacita uirgine pontifex. Horace, Odes, ed. T. E. Page (London: MacMillan & Co., 1959), 3.30.7-9. The translations from the original Latin texts are the author’s unless otherwise noted. 3 Livy, Ab Urba Condita, ed. B. O. Foster (New York: Putnam Books, 1919), 1.20 ; Ovid, Tristia, ed. Arthur
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