_____________________________________ VIRGIN TERRITORY THE VESTALS AND THE TRANSITION FROM REPUBLIC TO PRINCIPATE _____________________________________ PETA NICOLE GREENFIELD 2011 Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Department of Classics and Ancient History The University of Sydney ABSTRACT _____________________________________ The cult of Vesta was vital to the city of Rome. The goddess was associated with the City’s very foundation, and Romans believed that the continuity of the state depended on the sexual and moral purity of her priestesses. In this dissertation, Virgin Territory: The Vestals and the Transition from Republic to Principate, I examine the Vestal cult between c. 150 BCE and 14 CE, that is, from the beginning of Roman domination in the Mediterranean to the establishment of authoritarian rule at Rome. Six aspects of the cult are discussed: the Vestals’ relationship with water in ritual and literature; a re-evaluation of Vestal incestum (unchastity) which seeks a nuanced approach to the evidence and examines the record of incestum cases; the Vestals’ extra-ritual activities; the Vestals’ role as custodians of politically sensitive documents; the Vestals’ legal standing relative to other Roman women, especially in the context of Augustus’ moral reform legislation; and the cult’s changing relationship with the topography of Rome in light of the construction of a new shrine to Vesta on the Palatine after Augustus became pontifex maximus in 12 BCE. It will be shown that the cult of Vesta did not survive the turmoil of the Late Republic unchanged, nor did it maintain its ancient prerogative in the face of Augustus’ ascendancy. The thesis therefore sheds new light on our understanding of the nature, role and significance of the Vestal cult during the Roman revolution. i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS _____________________________________ Thanks must first of all be given to Lindsay Watson, my supervisor, who has given generously of his time and has always been forthcoming with ideas, suggestions, and a perfectionist’s eye for detail. We came to the project from different perspectives, he as a classicist, and I as an ancient historian, but there is no question that the project has vastly benefited from having Lindsay’s input. The process of working on a dissertation has been rendered a pleasure from having Lindsay’s support and words do not adequately convey my gratitude. I give particular thanks to Julia Kindt and Elly Cowan for their support as associate supervisors at various stages of this project. Their contributions have been invaluable. Special thanks must be given to Andrew Pettinger and Atticus Cox, for not only reading and commenting on large parts of the dissertation, but providing excellent company over many a breakfast – our breakfasts were one of the things that kept me sane by giving me something to look forward to other than the work! Thanks with gratitude are deserved by those who willingly undertook the task to read my work at various stages, including Maxine Lewis, Christopher Malone, Paul Roche, Martin Stone, and Jeff Tatum. With a healthy respect for everyone that I’ve listed so far, I can report that any deficiencies that remain in the work are an expression of my own failings rather than theirs. The Phrontisterion group for postgraduate students in Classics and Ancient History at the University of Sydney has ensured that the inevitable consequences of a long research project have been balanced by an active support network. The collaborative atmosphere and camaraderie generated by the Phrontisterion members has added greatly to my enjoyment of the PhD process. My research has been monetary aided by the receipt of an Australian Postgraduate Award, which funded the first three and half years of my project, the Australasian Society for Classical Studies, which has provided bursaries for travel to conferences, the Postgraduate Research Support Scheme funded by the University of Sydney for the purchase of books and other research materials, and the Andrew Wright Award, which enabled me to travel to Canada to present at the Classical Association conference in 2011. My personal thanks are extended to my family and friends who have supported me with their faith in my abilities and their willingness to send me up whenever I have appeared too melodramatic regarding my situation. My family deserve a large measure of my thanks, as they have always been ready to help in any way they can and their support has enabled me to reach fearlessly towards my ambitions. To my friends, I give particular thanks to Catherine, who has been an unflagging source of support and inspiration, and to Mikayla and Vicki, who understand and always manage to make me laugh. My final thank you, and the most heartfelt, belongs to Chris. He has been so patient and so supportive while this project has increasingly taken over my life. There would be no dissertation at all if not for him. ii CONTENTS _____________________________________ ABSTRACT i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii CONTENTS iii ABBREVIATIONS v INTRODUCTION 1 A BACKGROUND TO THE VESTAL VIRGINS 2 VESTAL FOUNDATION AND VESTAL DESTRUCTION 10 THE CICERONIAN EVIDENCE FOR VESTA AND VESTAL VIRGINS 11 THE VESTALS AND THE SAFETY OF ROME 17 THE VESTALS IN RECENT SCHOLARSHIP 23 THE VESTAL VIRGINS AND RELIGION IN ANCIENT ROME 31 METHODOLOGY 35 OUTLINE OF DISSERTATION 39 CHAPTER ONE: VESTALS AND WATER IN ROMAN RITUAL AND LITERATURE 43 WATER AND RIVERS IN ROMAN THOUGHT 47 THE VESTALS’ RITUAL ASSOCIATION WITH WATER 55 THE DAILY CLEANSING OF THE AEDES VESTAE 55 THE ARGEI 56 THE ANNUAL CLEANSING OF THE AEDES VESTAE 59 CONCLUSIONS CONCERNING THE RITUAL USE OF WATER IN THE CULT OF VESTA 65 THE VESTALS AND WATER IN MYTH 66 TUCCIA 66 CLAUDIA QUINTA 71 TARPEIA 81 CONCLUSIONS 90 CHAPTER TWO: INCESTUM AND AUGUSTUS 92 VESTAL INCESTUM IN ROMAN MORALITY 94 SCHOLARSHIP ON THE CAUSES OF VESTAL INCESTUM 97 THE PATTERN OF THE EVIDENCE 103 AN ALTERNATIVE READING OF 114/3 BCE 108 ACCUSATIONS OF VESTAL INCESTUM AND ROME’S INTERNAL POLITICS 116 AUGUSTAN RHETORIC 125 CONCLUSIONS 131 iii CHAPTER THREE: VESTAL ACTIVITY DURING THE LATE REPUBLIC 133 VESTALS ACTIVITY DURING THE LATE REPUBLIC 139 VESTAL ACTIVITY DURING THE AUGUSTAN PRINCIPATE 162 CHAPTER FOUR: THE VESTAL VIRGINS’ DOCUMENTS 167 WHY LEAVE A DOCUMENT WITH THE VESTALS? 167 DOCUMENTS HELD IN VESTAL CUSTODY 172 THE WILL OF JULIUS CAESAR 45 BCE 173 THE TABLETS OF THE VETERANS 41 BCE 176 THE TREATY OF MISENUM 39 BCE 179 THE WILL OF MARCUS ANTONIUS 32 BCE 182 THE WILL OF AUGUSTUS 13 CE 196 CONCLUSIONS 199 CHAPTER FIVE: THE VESTAL VIRGINS, LIVIA, AND OCTAVIA 203 THE PRIVILEGES OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS 205 THE PRIVILEGES OF LIVIA AND OCTAVIA, 35 BCE 222 THE VESTALS, LIVIA (AND OCTAVIA) AFTER 35 BCE 231 THE VESTALS, LIVIA, AND THE ARA PACIS AUGUSTAE 240 THE VESTALS AND LIVIA AFTER AUGUSTUS 243 CONCLUSIONS 244 CHAPTER SIX: TOPOGRAPHICAL CHANGES TO THE VESTAL CULT 246 NEW ANNUAL RITUALS OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS 247 A SIGNUM AND ARA TO VESTA ON THE PALATINE 252 I AM THE PONTIFEX MAXIMUS 253 THE TRADITIONAL RESIDENCE OF THE PONTIFEX MAXIMUS 257 THE RESIDENCE OF AUGUSTUS, PONTIFEX MAXIMUS 258 THE CONTENTS OF THE PENUS 265 THE PALATINE DEDICATIONS TO VESTA AND THE PALLADIUM 267 LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION 272 THE VESTALS’ TOPOGRAPHICAL RELATIONSHIP WITH ROME AFTER 12 BCE 279 CONCLUSION 282 APPENDIX: A VESTAL TIMELINE 100 BCE – 14 CE 291 APPENDIX: TUCCIA AND THE DANAIDS 296 APPENDIX: THE VESTALS AND CAESAR IN C. 82 BCE 303 APPENDIX: POLITICS AND ANTONY’S WILL IN 32 BCE 307 APPENDIX: VISUAL EVIDENCE 311 BIBLIOGRAPHY AND WORKS CONSULTED 315 iv ABBREVIATIONS _____________________________________ In general abbreviations for ancient authors follow those of the Oxford Classical Dictionary3. Abbreviations for journal titles follow the conventions of L'Année Philologique. Abbreviations that deviate from these conventions as well as common abbreviations used throughout the dissertation are listed here. AE L'Année Epigraphique BNP CANCIK, H., SCHNEIDER, H., SALAZAR, C. F., ORTON, D. E. (eds.) 2002-c.2007. Brill’s New Pauly: Encyclopaedia of the Ancient World (Beill, Leiden, Boston) CIL Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum FS Feminist Studies ILLRP DEGRASSI, A. 1965. Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Publicae (Florenz 2. Aufl.) ILS DESSAU, H. (ed.) c. 1974. Inscriptiones Latine Selectae in 3 Volumes (Weidmann, Dublin, Zürich) InscrIt Inscriptiones Italiae LIMC c. 1981-2009 Lexicon Iconographicum Mythologiae Classicae (Artemis, Zürich) LTUR STEINBY, E. (ed) 1993-2000. Lexicon Topographicum Urbis Romae in Six Volumes (Edizioni Quasar, Rome) PMG PAGE, D. L. 1962. Poetae Melici Graeci (OUP, Oxford) RE 1894-1980. Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft TAPA Transactions and Proceedings of the American Philological Association v INTRODUCTION VESTAL VIRGINS AND THE SAFETY OF ROME _____________________________________ The Vestal Virgins were a potent symbol of Rome’s continuity, so much so that they represented the safety of the city. Horace expressed the view concisely when he discussed his own ambition for immortality: usque ego postera 7 crescam laude recens, dum Capitolium scandet cum tacita virgine pontifex. 1 9 Constantly I will grow afresh with retrospective praise, for as long as the pontifex ascends the Capitol with a silent virgin. Horace located his own immortality in the eternity of Rome. By Horace’s measure, Rome only needed three things in order to survive: the Capitol, the pontifex maximus , and the silent virgin – a virgo Vestalis . In a very important sense, Rome’s continuity depended upon the continuity and preservation of the Vestal order. My dissertation examines the Vestal Virgins during the Late Republic and the Augustan periods from a new perspective, following the Vestals’ place in the historical narrative. This new approach operates from the assumption that the Vestals were affected by, and responded to, the changing politico-religious climate between c. 150 BCE and 14 CE.