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Open Research Online The Open University’s repository of research publications and other research outputs The cult of Vesta in the Roman world Thesis How to cite: Cobb, Jennifer Mary (1984). The cult of Vesta in the Roman world. MPhil thesis The Open University. For guidance on citations see FAQs. c 1983 The Author https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ Version: Version of Record Link(s) to article on publisher’s website: http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.21954/ou.ro.0000f956 Copyright and Moral Rights for the articles on this site are retained by the individual authors and/or other copyright owners. For more information on Open Research Online’s data policy on reuse of materials please consult the policies page. oro.open.ac.uk UNRESTS !CTED MISS JENNIFER MARY COBB B.A.(LONDON) THE CULT OF VESTA IN THE ROMAN WORLD SUBMITTED FOR THE DEGREE OF M.PHIL FACULTY OF ARTS : CLASSICAL STUDIES DATE OF SUBMISSION : 27 D4AY 19 83 i ) a - C L crf^ ; / 4 - M<3>cA/ J P ro Q u e st N um ber: 27777207 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent on the quality of the copy submitted. in the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. uest ProQuest 27777207 Published by ProQuest LLC (2020). Copyright of the Dissertation is held by the Author. Ail Rights Reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 sr4fé*(Ê'//'T' oÇ AS fi0)iyinei> oiiveA iO> ss I wyd! dwf 4% ^ . ; ^ K - ‘‘‘f <« **“ " * - (£ i M j ' 3gWjâ" C mis& ?' c ^ 3 /6 ^/i/ The Open Um .,i^ Higher r-^rr-n e ^3APhJ)344 Ack..... Pass to.......... Disposai.. This thesis comprises a study of the origins, history and importance of the cult of Vesta in the Roman world. Its principal findings are that the cult was probably derived from the Greek cult of Hestia and entered Rome from the Greek colonies of Southern Italy no later than the sixth century BC., the period when it first appeared in the Forum. The organisation of the Vestal Virgins and the position of the temple near the Regia strongly suggests that the cult was connected with the monarchy and survived the expulsion of the regal family because the goddess had by then become regarded as one of the guardians of the State, whilst the Vestal Virgins participated in festivals such as the Parilia and the Argei which were connected with Rome's spiritual and material wellbeing. The public cult was confined tg these areas where Roman influence was paramount, expecially to Rome itself, Tibur and Colonia or military settlements in Spain, Gaul and Germany. Evidence for a private cult comprises scattered references by classical writers and Pompeian wall paintings discovered in private houses and pistrina which depict Vesta in the company of an ass. Her association with the ass probably occurred at an early period in the development of the cult and resulted in her becoming a goddess favoured by the baking trade, following the growth of the large baking establishments and the introduction of the donkey-driven mill in the second century BC. The cult achieved its greatest influence during the Empire when it became closely associated with the imperial house. Evidence from inscriptions and coinage indicates its prestige reached its zenith in the second and third centuries AD.; thereafter it declined owing to the rise of Christianity. There is no evidence of its survival into the fifth century. 1. TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER I. THE ORIGINS OF THE CULT OF VESTA 1-74 i. The evidence of archaeology 1. II. Classical sources 24 III.Lavlnlum and Alba Longa 30 Iv. Modern Scholarship 37 V*. Summary 62 Notes to Chapter I. 67 CHAPTER II. THE VESTAL VIRGINS; 75-122 Appendix 1. Vestal Virgins accused or 114 convicted of unchastlty Appendix 2. Duties performed by the 115 Vestal Virgins during the religious year. Appendix 3» Statues of Vestal Virgins 116 Notes to Chapter II 117 CHAPTER III. THE PRIVATE CULT OF VESTA 123-166 I. The presence of Vesta In the domestic 123 cult. II. The household gods 139 III.The connection between Vesta and the I46 baking trade Iv. Conclusions 157 Appendix 1. Lararla paintings depicting I6O Vesta 11. Notes to Chapter III 162 CHAPTER IV. EVIDENCE FOR THE CULT OF VESTA 167-183 Appendix 1. Distribution of the cult of 180 Vesta in the West Appendix 2. Plan of the aedes Vestae 181 Notes to Chapter IV 182 CHAPTER V. THE HISTORY OF THE CULT OF VESTA 184-238 Notes to Chapter V 232 APPENDIX I. INSCRIPTIONAL EVIDENCE FOR THE CULT OF VESTA 239-251 APPENDIX II. EXTRACTS FROM CLASSICAL AUTHORS CONCERNING 252-315 THE CULT OF VESTA CITED IN CHAPTERS I-V APPENDIX III.BIBLIOGRAPHY 316-320 111. LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 1. Statue of a Vestal Virgin in the Museo Nazionale, Rome. 116 2. Relief of a Vestal in the Museo Gregorio Profano, Rome. 116 5. Lararium Painting: Regio VII.ix.i3 . I6O 4. Close-up showing Vesta and her ass.. I6O 5 . Painting in the kitchen of the Casa di Sirici. I6I MAPS 1. Distribution of inscriptional evidence from the 180 Western Mediterranean. 2. Inscriptional evidence from the vicinity of Rome. 180 PLAN 1. Plan of the aedes Vestae 181 CHAPTER I THE ORIGINS OF THE CULT OF VESTA The origins of the cult of Vesta are a complex problem which has no easy solution. Classical authors considered that it had been introduced into Rome in the days of Numa Pompilius or of Romulus. Modern scholars have turned to anthropology and comparative religion', whilst archaeology has thrown new light on the origins of Rome and the external influences upon the early city. Therefore, this chapter will consist of five sections dealing with, respectively, archaeological evidence, the opinions of classical writers, the claims of Lavinium and Alba Longa to have been the home of Vesta, the theories of modern scholars and a summary of conclusions. I. THE EVIDENCE OF ARCHAEOLOGY The earliest traces of habitation on the site of Rome have been found on the Esquiline Hill and can be dated to the Chalcolithic Age. Though the evidence is sparse, the remains of flint and stone knives, scrapers and arrow­ heads go back to the earlier part of the second millennium BC. The settlements on the Esquiline continued through to the Bronze Age, as was shown by the discovery of two bronze hand axes, whilst during the period settlements also appeared on the Palatine and the Capitoline, as Bronze Age pottery found in the filling layers of the Forum Boarium has indicated. This pottery, which belongs to the Apenninetype 1 ranges in date between the fourteenth century and the ninth century BC. 2. The evidence of settlements on the hills of Rome becomes stronger from about the ninth century BC onwards when tombs began to appear in the Forum Valley near the Temple of Antoninus and Faustina. These probably represent the necropolis of a settlement centred on the Palatine. Other groups of tombs found between the Oppius and the Cispius probably belong to the village on the Equiline while the two tombs in the Augustan Forum may have been connected with a settlement on the Quirinal. These tombs show distinct differences in type, which is related to which settlements they belong to, and were either pozzo, which were associated with cremations, or fossa, which were inhumations. In the Palatine necropolis the proportion of cremation to inhumation was in the region of 60/40, whilst the Esquiline necropolis was predominantly inhumation. These differences suggest that though the villages were very close geographically, they were sufficiently isolated to develop their own separate identities; there is no evidence to show whether the villages were inhabited by different tribes. This individuality is also exhibited in the types of pozzo found in the early tombs, as those connected with the Esquiline were square whilst those connected with the Palatine settlement were round; however, these differences disappear from the later tombs and the Palatine type predominates, possibly indicating a closer link between the two settlements with the Palatine being the senior member. The dating of these and subsequent periods of Rome's early history has produced a great deal of controversy. Einar Gjerstad^ had divided it into four periods: Period I dates from 800-750 BC., Period II from 750-700 BC., Period 3. Ill from 700-625 BC., and Period IV from 625-575 BC. He also considers that Etruscan rule did not end until C.450 BC. This chronology has not been widely accepted. Muller-Karpe, for example^, has placed the beginnings of settlement in the tenth century, with the eighth century seeing the Forum becoming a market-place rather than a cemetery, whilst Momigliano regards Gjerstad's dates With caution and is inclined to place the Palatine settlement somewhat earlier^. Ridgway, too, finds Gjerstad's dates too low and considers that Period I should end well before 750 BC^. A more extreme reaction has been expressed by R.E.A. Palmer, who has stated of Gjerstad's theories in general : Gjerstad's work is founded on violation of the Latin language, of linguistic rules, of source criticism, of historical methodology, of archaeological interpretation and of logical argument...
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