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Vestal Virgin

says that the priestesshood of had its origins at .[2] The 2nd century Aulus Gel- lius writes that the first Vestal taken from her parents was led away in hand by Numa. attributes the found- ing of the to Numa, who appointed at first two priestesses; increased the num- ber to four.[3] alludes to a seventh in late an- tiquity.[4] Numa also appointed the to watch over the Vestals. The first Vestals, according to Varro, were named Gegania,[5] Veneneia,[6] Canuleia,[7] and .[8] In myth, Tarpeia, daughter of Spurius Tarpeius, was portrayed as traitorous. The Vestals became a powerful and influential force in the Roman state. When included the young Julius Cae- sar in his , the Vestals interceded on Caesar’s behalf and gained him pardon.[9] included the Vestals in all major dedications and ceremonies. They were held in awe, and attributed certain magical powers. , for example, in Book 28 of his "Natural History" discussing the efficacy of magic, chooses not to refute, but rather tacitly accept as truth:[10]

At the present day, too, it is a general be- lief, that our Vestal virgins have the power, by uttering a certain prayer, to arrest the flight of runaway slaves, and to rivet them to the spot, provided they have not gone beyond the precincts of the City. If then these opinions be Roman statue of a Virgo Vestalis Maxima once received as truth, and if it be admitted that the gods do listen to certain prayers, or are in- In , the Vestals or Vestal Virgins (Vestales, fluenced by set forms of words, we are bound singular Vestalis) were priestesses of Vesta, goddess of to conclude in the affirmative upon the whole the hearth. The College of the Vestals and its well-being question. was regarded as fundamental to the continuance and se- curity of Rome. They cultivated the sacred fire that was The urban prefect Symmachus, who sought to maintain not allowed to go out. The Vestals were freed of the usual traditional Roman religion during the rise of Christianity, social obligations to marry and bear children, and took a wrote: vow of in order to devote themselves to the study and correct observance of state rituals that were off-limits The laws of our ancestors provided for the to the male colleges of .[1] Vestal virgins and the ministers of the gods a moderate maintenance and just privileges. This gift was preserved inviolate till the time of the degenerate moneychangers, who diverted 1 History the maintenance of sacred chastity into a fund for the payment of base porters. A public , Plutarch, and Aulus Gellius attribute the creation famine ensued on this act, and a bad harvest of the Vestals as a state-supported priestesshood to king disappointed the hopes of all the provinces... , who reigned circa 717–673 BC. Ac- it was sacrilege which rendered the year bar- cording to Livy, Numa introduced the Vestals and as- ren, for it was necessary that all should lose that signed them salaries from the public treasury. Livy also which they had denied to religion.[11]

1 2 3 TERMS OF SERVICE

The College of the Vestals was disbanded and the sacred 3.1 Selection fire extinguished in 394, by order of the Christian em- peror . records how the Christian To obtain entry into the order, a girl had to be free of noblewoman Serena, niece of Theodosius, entered the physical and mental defects, have two living parents and temple and took from the statue of the goddess a neck- be a daughter of a free-born resident of Rome. From at lace and placed it on her own neck.[12] An old woman ap- least the mid-Republican era, the pontifex maximus chose peared, the last of the Vestals, who proceeded to rebuke Vestals between their sixth and tenth year, by lot from Serena and called down upon her all just punishment for a group of twenty high-born candidates at a gathering her act of impiety.[13] According to Zosimus, Serena was of their families and other Roman citizens. Originally, then subject to dreadful dreams predicting her own un- the girl had to be of birth, but membership was timely death. Augustine would be inspired to write The opened to as it became difficult to find patri- City of God in response to murmurings that the capture cians willing to commit their daughters to 30 years as a of Rome and the disintegration of its empire was due to Vestal, and then ultimately even from the daughters of the advent of the Christian era and its intolerance of the freedmen for the same reason.[18][19] old gods who had defended the city for over a thousand The choosing ceremony was known as a captio (capture). years. Once a girl was chosen to be a Vestal, the pontifex pointed to her and led her away from her parents with the words, 1.1 Vestalis Maxima “I take you, Amata, to be a Vestal priestess, who will carry out sacred rites which it is the law for a Vestal priestess to perform on behalf of the Roman people, on the same The chief Vestal (Virgo Vestalis Maxima or Vestalium terms as her who was a Vestal 'on the best terms’" (thus, Maxima, “greatest of the Vestals”) oversaw the efforts of with all the entitlements of a Vestal). As soon as she en- the Vestals, and was present in the College of Pontiffs. tered the atrium of Vesta’s temple, she was under the god- The Vestalis Maxima presided over the Vestals for dess’s service and protection.[20] 57 years, according to . The last known chief vestal was Coelia Concordia, who stepped down in 394 To replace a Vestal who had died, candidates would be with the disbanding of the College of the Vestals. presented in the quarters of the chief Vestal for the se- lection of the most virtuous. Unlike normal inductees, The Vestalium Maxima was the most important of Rome’s these candidates did not have to be prepubescents, nor high priestesses. The Flaminica Dialis and the regina even virgins (they could be young widows or even di- sacrorum each held unique responsibility for certain re- vorcees, though that was frowned upon and thought un- ligious rites, but came into her office as part of a couple. lucky), though they were rarely older than the deceased Vestal they were replacing. Tacitus ( ii.86) re- counts how Gaius Fonteius Agrippa and Domitius Pol- 2 Number of Vestals lio offered their daughters as Vestal candidates in AD 19 to fill such a vacant position. Equally matched, Pollio’s According to Plutarch, there were only two Vestal Virgins daughter was chosen only because Agrippa had been re- when Numa began the College of the Vestals. This num- cently divorced. The pontifex maximus () “con- ber later increased to four, and then to six.[14] It has been soled” the failed candidate with a dowry of 1 million ses- suggested by some authorities that a seventh was added terces. later, but this is doubtful.[15]

3.2 Tasks 3 Terms of service Their tasks included the maintenance of the fire sacred The Vestals were committed to the priestesshood before to Vesta, the goddess of the hearth and home, collect- puberty (when 6–10 years old) and sworn to for ing water from a sacred spring, preparation of food used [16] in rituals and caring for sacred objects in the temple’s a period of 30 years. These 30 years were divided in [21] turn into decade-long periods during which Vestals were sanctuary. By maintaining Vesta’s sacred fire, from respectively students, servants, and teachers. Afterwards, which anyone could receive fire for household use, they they were retired and replaced by a new inductee. Once functioned as “surrogate housekeepers”, in a religious retired, a former Vestal was given a pension and allowed sense, for all of Rome. Their sacred fire was treated, in to marry.[17] The Pontifex Maximus, acting as the father Imperial times, as the emperor’s household fire. of the bride, would typically arrange a marriage with a The Vestals were put in charge of keeping safe the wills suitable Roman nobleman. A marriage to a former Vestal and testaments of various people such as Caesar and was highly honoured, and – more importantly in ancient . In addition, the Vestals also guarded some Rome – thought to bring good luck, as well as a comfort- sacred objects, including the Palladium, and made a spe- able pension. cial kind of flour called mola salsa which was sprinkled 3.4 Punishments 3

Early 18th-century depiction of the dedication of a Vestal, by House of the Vestals and Temple of Vesta from the Palatine Alessandro Marchesini on all public offerings to a god. the city, was a serious offence and was punishable by scourging.[24] 3.3 Privileges The chastity of the Vestals was considered to have a di- rect bearing on the health of the Roman state. When The dignities accorded to the Vestals were significant. they entered the , they left behind the authority of their fathers and became daughters of the state. Any • in an era when religion was rich in pageantry, the sexual relationship with a citizen was therefore consid- [25] presence of the College of Vestal Virgins was re- ered to be incestum and an act of treason. The punish- quired in numerous public ceremonies and wherever ment for violating the oath of celibacy was to be buried they went, they were transported in a carpentum, a alive in the Campus Sceleratus or “Evil Field” (an under- covered two-wheeled carriage, preceded by a , ground chamber near the Colline Gate) with a few days and had the right-of-way; of food and water. Ancient tradition required that an un- chaste Vestal be buried alive within the city, that being • at public games and performances they had a re- the only way to kill her without spilling her blood, which served place of honour; was forbidden. However, this practice contradicted the that no person might be buried within the city. • unlike most Roman women, they were not subject to To solve this problem, the Romans buried the offending the patria potestas and so were free to own property, priestess with a nominal quantity of food and other pro- make a will, and vote; visions, not to prolong her punishment, but so that the • they gave evidence without the customary oath, their Vestal would not technically be buried in the city, but in- word being trusted without question; stead descend into a “habitable room”. Moreover, she would die willingly. The actual manner of the procession • they were, on account of their incorruptible charac- to Campus Scleretatus has been described like this:[26] ter, entrusted with important wills and state docu- ments, like public treaties; When condemned by the college of pon- • their person was sacrosanct: death was the penalty tifices, she was stripped of her vittae and other for injuring their person and they had escorts to pro- badges of office, was scourged, was attired like tect them from assault; a corpse, placed in a close litter, and borne through the forum attended by her weeping • they could free condemned prisoners and slaves by kindred, with all the ceremonies of a real fu- touching them – if a person who was sentenced to neral, to a rising ground called the Campus death saw a Vestal on his way to the execution, he Sceleratus just within the city walls, close to was automatically pardoned. the Colline gate. There a small vault under- • they participated in throwing the ritual straw figures ground had been previously prepared, contain- called into the on May 15.[22][23] ing a couch, a lamp, and a table with a little food. The pontifex maximus, having lifted up his hands to heaven and uttered a secret prayer, 3.4 Punishments opened the litter, led forth the culprit, and plac- ing her on the steps of the ladder which gave ac- Allowing the sacred fire of Vesta to die out, suggest- cess to the subterranean cell, delivered her over ing that the goddess had withdrawn her protection from to the common executioner and his assistants, 4 4 HOUSE OF THE VESTALS

who conducted her down, drew up the ladder, there are only ten recorded convictions for unchastity and and having filled the pit with earth until the sur- these trials all took place at times of political crisis for the face was level with the surrounding ground, left Roman state. It has been suggested[25] that Vestals were her to perish deprived of all the tributes of re- used as scapegoats[30] in times of great crisis. spect usually paid to the spirits of the departed. was convinced that Cornelia, who as Virgo Maxima was buried alive at the orders of emperor Cases of unchastity and its punishment were rare.[27] In , was innocent of the charges of unchastity, and 483 BC, following a series of portents, and advice from he describes how she sought to keep her dignity intact the soothsayers that the religious ceremonies were not be- when she descended into the chamber:[31] ing duly attended to, the vestal virgin Oppia was found guilty of a breach of chastity and punished.[28] The Vestal Tuccia was accused of , but she carried water in a sieve to prove her chastity. when she was let down into the subterrane- O Vesta, if I have always brought pure ous chamber, and her robe had caught in de- hands to your secret services, make it so now scending, she turned round and gathered it up. that with this sieve I shall be able to draw water And when the executioner offered her his hand, from the Tiber and bring it to Your temple.[29] she shrunk from it, and turned away with dis- gust; spurning the foul contact from her per- son, chaste, pure, and holy: and with all the deportment of modest grace, she scrupulously endeavoured to perish with propriety and deco- rum.

Dionysius of Halicarnassus claims that the earliest Vestals at Alba Longa were whipped and “put to death” for break- ing their vows of celibacy, and that their offspring were to be thrown into the river.[32] According to Livy, Rhea Sil- via, the mother of and Remus, had been forced to become a Vestal Virgin, and when she gave birth to the twins, it is stated that she was merely loaded down with chains and cast into prison, her babies put into the river.[33] Dionysius also relates the belief that live was instituted by the Roman king Tarquinius Priscus, and inflicted this punishment on the priestess Pinaria.[34] The 11th century Byzantine historian George Kedrenos is the only extant source for the claim that prior to Priscus, the Roman King Numa Pompilius had instituted death by stoning for unchaste Vestal Virgins, and that it was Priscus who changed the punishment into that of live burial.[35] But whipping with rods sometimes preceded the immuration as was done to Urbinia in 471 BC.[36] Suspicions first arose against Minucia through an im- proper love of dress and the evidence of a slave. She was The most prominent feature of the ruins that were once the Tem- found guilty of unchastity and buried alive.[37] Similarly ple of Vesta is the hearth (seen here in the foreground). Postumia, who though innocent according to Livy[38] was tried for unchastity with suspicions being aroused through Because a Vestal’s was thought to be directly her immodest attire and less than maidenly manner. Pos- correlated to the sacred burning of the fire, if the fire were tumia was sternly warned “to leave her sports, taunts and extinguished it might be assumed that either the Vestal merry conceits.” Aemilia, , and Martia were exe- had acted wrongly or that the vestal had simply neglected cuted after being denounced by the servant of a barbarian her duties. The final decision was the responsibility of horseman. A few Vestals were acquitted. Some cleared the Pontifex Maximus, or the head of the pontifical col- themselves through ordeals.[39] The paramour of a guilty lege, as opposed to a judicial body. While the Order of Vestal was whipped to death in the or on the Vestals was in existence for over one thousand years the .[40] 5

7 List of Vestals

From the institution of the Vestal priesthood to its aboli- tion, an unknown number of Vestals held office. Several are named in Roman myth and history.

7.1 Legendary Vestals

• , the mythical mother of Rome’s founders, .

A reconstruction of the House of the Vestals by Christian Huelsen • Aemilia, who, when the sacred fire was extinguished (1905) on one occasion, prayed to Vesta for assistance, and miraculously rekindled it by throwing a piece of her 4 House of the Vestals garment upon the extinct embers.[44]

Main article: House of the Vestals 7.2 Vestals in the Republic

The House of the Vestals was the residence of the vestal • Aemilia (d. 114 BC), Marcia (d. 114 BC), and priestesses in Rome. Behind the Temple of Vesta (which Licinia (d. 114 - 113 BC), accused of multiple acts housed the sacred fire), the Atrium Vestiae was a three- of incestum (violations of their vows of chastity). story building at the foot of the . Aemilia, who had supposedly led the two others to follow her example, was condemned outright. Marcia, who was accused of only one offence, and Licinia, who was accused of many, were at first ac- 5 Vestal festivals quitted by the pontifices, but were retried by the praetor and jurist Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla The chief festivals of Vesta were the Vestalia celebrated (consul 127 BC), and condemned to death.[45] The June 7 until June 15. On June 7 only, her sanctu- prosecution offered two Sibylline prophecies in sup- ary (which normally no one except her priestesses the port of the final verdicts. The charges were almost Vestals entered) was accessible to mothers of families certainly trumped up, and may have been politically who brought plates of food. The simple ceremonies were motivated.[46] officiated by the Vestals and they gathered grain and fash- ioned salty cakes for the festival. This was the only time • Oppia was a Vestal Virgin in the early republic. In when they themselves made the mola salsa, for this was 483 BC, following a series of portents, and advice the holiest time for Vesta, and it had to be made perfectly from the soothsayers that the religious ceremonies and correctly, as it was used in all public sacrifices. were not being duly attended to, she was found guilty of a breach of chastity and punished.[28]

• Fonteia, served c. 91–69 BC, recorded as a Vestal 6 Attire during the trial of her brother in 69 BC, but she would have begun her service before her father’s The main articles of their clothing consisted of an infula, death in 91.[47] a suffibulum and a palla. The infula was a fillet, which • was worn by priests and other religious figures in Rome. Fabia, chief Vestal (b. c. 98–97 BC; fl. 50 BC), ad- A vestal’s infula was white and made from wool. The suf- mitted to the order in 80 BC, half-sister of fibulum was the white woolen veil which was worn during (’s first wife), and a wife of Dolabella who rituals and sacrifices. Usually found underneath were red later married her niece Tullia; she was probably [48] and white woolen ribbons, symbolizing the Vestal’s com- mother of the later consul of that name. In 73BC mitment to keeping the fire of Vesta and to her vow of pu- she was acquitted of incestum with Lucius Sergius [49] rity, respectively. The palla was the long, simple shawl, a Catilina. typical article of clothing for Roman women. The palla, • Licinia (flourished 1st century BC), who was sup- and its pin, were draped over the left shoulder. posedly courted by her kinsman, the so-called Vestals also had an elaborate hairstyle consisting of six "triumvir" , who in fact or seven braids, which Roman brides also wore.[41][42] wanted her property. This relationship gave rise to In 2013 Janet Stephens became the first to recreate the rumors. Plutarch says: “And yet when he was fur- hairstyle of the vestals on a modern person.[42][43] ther on in years, he was accused of criminal intimacy 6 9 REFERENCES

with Licinia, one of the Vestal virgins and Licinia the Vestal who proved her virtue by carrying water in a was formally prosecuted by a certain Plotius. Now sieve.[57] Tuccia herself had been a subject for artists such Licinia was the owner of a pleasant villa in the sub- as Jacopo del Sellaio (d. 1493) and Joannes Stradanus, urbs which Crassus wished to get at a low price, and and women who were arts patrons started having them- it was for this reason that he was forever hovering selves painted as Vestals.[58] In the libertine environment about the woman and paying his court to her, un- of 18th century France, portraits of women as Vestals til he fell under the abominable suspicion. And in seem intended as fantasies of virtue infused with ironic a way it was his avarice that absolved him from the eroticism.[59] Later vestals became an image of republi- charge of corrupting the Vestal, and he was acquit- can virtue, as in Jacques-Louis David's The Vestal Virgin. ted by the judges. But he did not let Licinia go until The discovery of a “House of the Vestals” in he had acquired her property.”[50] Licinia became a made the Vestals a popular subject in the 18th century Vestal in 85 BC and remained a Vestal until 61 BC. and the 19th century.

7.3 Imperial Vestals 8.1 Portraits as Vestals

• Rubria, said by to have been married to • Sieve Portrait of Queen (1583) by the Emperor Quentin Metsys the Younger

• Aquilia Severa, whom Emperor married • Vestal Virgin (1677–1730) by Jean Raoux amid considerable scandal. • Madame Henriette de France as a Vestal Virgin • Coelia Concordia, the last head of the order. (1749) by Jean-Marc Nattier • Portrait of a Woman as a Vestal Virgin (1770s) by 7.4 Outside Rome Angelica Kauffman

Inscriptions record the existence of Vestals in other loca- tions than the centre of Rome. 9 References

• Manlia Severa, virgo Albana maxima,[51] a chief Al- [1] For an extensive modern consideration of the Vestals, see Ariadne Staples, From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: ban Vestal at whose brother was probably Sex and Category in Roman Religion (Routledge, 1998). the L. Manlius Severus named as a in a funerary inscription. Mommsen thought he was rex [2] Livy, Ab urbe condita, 1:20. sacrorum of Rome, view that is now not considered [3] “Life of Numa Pompilius” 9.5–10. probable.[52] [4] ""Letter to Emperor Valentianus”, Letter #18, Ambrose”. • Flavia (or Valeria) Vera, a virgo vestalis maxima ar- Newadvent.org. Retrieved 2012-11-19. cis Albanae, chief Vestal Virgin of the Alban arx (citadel).[53] [5] English pronunciation: /dʒᵻˈɡeɪniə/ ji-GAY-nee-ə.

• Caecilia Philete, a senior virgin (virgo maior) of [6] /vɛnᵻˈniːə/ ven-i-NEE-ə. [54] -Lavinium, as commemorated by her [7] /kænjᵿˈliːə/ kan-ew-LEE-ə. father, Q. Caecilius Papion. The title maior means at Lavinium the Vestals were only two. [8] /tɑːrˈpiːə/ tar-PEE-ə.

• Saufeia Alexandria, virgo Vestalis Tiburtium.[55] [9] Suetonius, “”, 1.2. [10] Pliny(1855), “The Natural History of Pliny, Volume 5”, • Cossinia L(ucii) f(iliae), a Virgo Vestalis of Tibur p.280. (Tivoli).[56] [11] Ambrose of Milan. ""The Letters of Ambrose”, The • Primigenia, Alban vestal of Bovillae, mentioned by Memorial of Symmachus”. .org. Retrieved Symmachus in two of his letters. 2012-11-19.

[12] ""The New History”, 5:38, Zosimus”. transcribed by 8 Vestals in Western art Roger Pearse. Tertullian.org. Retrieved 2012-11-19. [13] “The Curse of the Last Vestal”, Melissa Barden Dowling, Biblical Archaeology Society, Archaeology Odyssey, Jan- The Vestals were used as models of female virtue in uary/February 2001 4:01. allegorizing portraiture of the later West. Elizabeth I of England was portrayed holding a sieve to evoke Tuccia, [14] Plutarch, Numa, Langhorne’s translation 7

[15] Worsfold, T. Cato, History of the Vestal Virgins of Rome, [33] Livy, volume 1 Baker translation (1844) New York: pg. 22 Harper&brothers, p.22

[16] Lutwyche, Jayne (2012-09-07). “Ancient Rome’s maid- [34] (1758) “The Roman antiquities of Dionysius Halicar- ens – who were the Vestal Virgins?". BBC. Retrieved nassensis, Volume 2”, Spelman translation p.128-29 2012-11-23. [35] Smith, Anthon (1843), “A dictionary of Greek and Roman [17] ""Life of Numa Pompilius”, Plutarch, 9.5–10, 2nd cen- antiquities”, New York: Harper&Brothers p.1040 tury A.D”. Stoa.org. Retrieved 2012-11-19. [36] “The Roman antiquities of Dionysius Halicarnassensis, [18] “Vestal Virgins”, Encyclopædia Britannica, Ultimate Ref- Volume 4”, p.75 erence DVD, 2003. [37] ""”, Book 8.15, Livy”. [19] Kroppenberg, Inge, “Law, Religion and Constitution of Mcadams.posc.mu.edu. Retrieved 2012-11-19. the Vestal Virgins,” Law and Literature, 22, 3, 2010, pp. 426 - 7. The earlier, stricter selection rules were deter- [38] ""History of Rome”, Book 4.44, Livy”. mined by the Papian Law of the 3rd Century BC; they Mcadams.posc.mu.edu. Retrieved 2012-11-19. were waived as suitable high-born candidates became hard to find. [39] “Patria Potestas”. www.suppressedhistories.net. Archived from the original on 2005-12-03. Retrieved [20] “Vestal Virgins”, Aulus Gellius, Attic Nights 2010-01-27. 1.12.STOA.org [40] Howatson M. C.: Oxford Companion to Classical Litera- [21] “Vestal Virgins”, Encyclopædia Britannica, Ultimate Ref- ture, Oxford University Press, 1989, ISBN 0-19-866121- erence Suite, 2003. 5 [22] Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities, i.19, 38. Penelope.uchicago.edu [41] Festus 454 in the edition of Lindsay, as cited by Robin Lorsch Wildfang, Rome’s Vestal Virgins: A Study of [23] William Smith, “A Dictionary of Greek and Ro- Rome’s Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early man Antiquities”, John Murray, London, 1875. Empire (Routledge, 2006), p. 54; Laetitia La Follette, Penelope.uchicago.edu “The Costume of the Roman Bride,” in The World of Ro- man Costume (University of Wisconsin Press, 2001), pp. [24] ""Vesta”, Encyclopædia Britannica, 1911 Edition”. 59–60 (on discrepancies of hairstyles in some Vestal por- 1911encyclopedia.org. 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2012-11- traits); “Recreating the Vestal Virgin Hairstyle” video. 19. [42] http://online.wsj.com/article/ [25] “Vestal Virgins – Chaste Keepers of the Flame”, Melissa SB10001424127887324900204578286272195339456. Barden Dowling, Biblical Archaeological Society, Ar- html chaeology Odyssey, January/February 2001 4:01. [43] http://www.nbcnews.com/id/50417111/ns/technology_ [26] Smith, Anthon (1846) “A school dictionary of Greek and and_science-science/#.UTYf91fYREc Roman antiquities”, London: Harper, p.353 [44] Dionysus of Halicarnassus, book II, 68, 3: Loeb edition [27] ""Vesta”, Encyclopædia Britannica 1911 Edition”. available at Thayer, chicago.edu: , I. 1. 1911encyclopedia.org. 2006-10-21. Retrieved 2012-11- §7 19. [45] Wildfang, Robin Lorsch, Rome’s vestal virgins: a study [28] Livy, Ab urbe condita, 2.42 of Rome’s vestal priestesses in the late Republic and early [29] Vestal Virgin Tuccia in Valerius Maximus 8.1.5 absol. Empire, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2007, p. 93ff

[30] Since the health of city was perceived in some way to be [46] Phyllis Cunham, in Harriet Flower (ed), The Cambridge linked to the purity and spiritual health of the vestals sus- Companion to the , Cambridge Univer- picions may have been fuelled in times of trouble. The al- sity Press, 2004, p.155.googlebooks partial preview. The lusions to a possible scapegoat could have been reinforced accusations against Licinia included fraternal incest. She by the Vestals throwing Argei into the Tiber each year on was a contemporary and possible political ally of the May 15. cf. “Religion of Ancient Rome”, C.C Martin- brothers. In 123 BC the had an- dale, Studies in Comparative Religion, CTS, Vol 2, 14:7 nulled her attempted rededication of 's Aventine Temple as illegal and “against the will of the people”. [31] Essay, part 2, page 332, “Some Observations on the Wor- She may have fallen victim to the factional politics of the ship of Vesta” by G.H. Noehden, in The Classical Jour- times. nal, NO XXXI, September 1817. London: A.J.Valpy. pp. 321–333. [47] Cicero, Pro Fonteio 46–49; Aulus Gellius 1.12.2; T.R.S. Broughton, The Magistrates of the Roman Republic [32] “The Roman Antiquities of Dionysius Halicarnassensis, (American Philological Association, 1952), vol. 2, pp. Volume 1” (1758), Spelmann (tr.)p.180 24–25. 8 11 EXTERNAL LINKS

[48] Wildfang, Robin Lorsch, Rome’s vestal virgins: a study of • Kroppenberg, Inge, “Law, Religion and Constitution Rome’s vestal priestesses in the late Republic and early Em- of the Vestal Virgins,” Law and Literature, 22, 3, pire, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 2007, p. 96, preview 2010, pp. 418 – 439. via google books • Peck, Harry Thurston, Harpers Dictionary of Clas- [49] Lewis, R. G., “Catalina and the Vestal”, The Classical sical Antiquities (1898) Quarterly, 51.1, pp. 141 - 9 (2001) link to JSTOR The case was prosecuted by Cicero. • Parker, Holt N. “Why Were the Vestals Virgins? Or the Chastity of Women and the Safety of the Roman [50] “Plutarch, ''Life of Crassus’'". Penelope.uchicago.edu. State”, American Journal of Philology, Vol. 125, Retrieved 2012-11-19. No. 4. (2004), pp. 563–601. [51] CIL XIV 2140 = ILS 6190, found in 1728 at the XI mile of • the Via Appia, now in the Lapidary Gallery of the Vatican Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby, A Topo- Museums: it mentions the dedication of a clipeus by her graphical Dictionary of Ancient Rome brother. • Wildfang, Robin Lorsch. Rome’s Vestal Virgins. [52] CIL XIV 2413 = ILS 4942 presently no longer reperible Oxford: Routledge, 2006 (hardcover, ISBN 0-415- in the palazzo Mattei in Rome. 39795-2; paperback, ISBN 0-415-39796-0).

[53] CIL VI 2172 = ILS 5011, found in Rome near the basilique of St. Saba, now in the Lapidary Gallery of the Vatican Museum. It is a dedicatory inscription on a little base, 11 External links possibly of a statuette that was housed in the home of the same vestal on the Little Aventine. M. G. Granino Cecere • Rodolfo Lanciani (1898) “The Fall of a Vestal” “Vestali non di Roma” in Studi di epigrafia latina 20 2003 Chapter 6, in Ancient Rome in the Light of Re- p. 70-71. cent Discoveries. Houghton, Mifflin and Company, [54] Virgo maior Laurentium Lavinatium, CIL XIV 2077, Boston and New York, 1898. as read by Pirro Ligorio, now housed in the Palazzo • article Vestales in Smith’s Dictionary of Greek and Borghese at Pratica di Mare. Cecere above p. 72. Roman Antiquities [55] CIL XIV 3677 = ILS 6244 on the base of an honorary • House of the Vestal Virgins statue, now irreperible. Possibly also mentioned in CIL XIV 3679a. Cecere above p. 73-74

[56] Inscr. It. IV n. 213. Inscription on funerary monument discovered at Tivoli in July 1929. On the front the name of the Vestal is incised within an oak wreath onto which adheres the sacred infula, knot of the order; with the name of the dedicant (L. Cossinius Electus, a relative, probably brother or nephew) on the lower margin. Cecere above p. 75.

[57] Marina Warner, Monuments and Maidens: The Allegory of the Female Form (University of California Press, 1985), p. 244 ; Robert Tittler, “Portraiture, Politics and Soci- ety,” in A Companion to Tudor Britain (Blackwell, 2007), p. 454; Linda Shenk, Learned Queen: The Image of Eliz- abeth I in Politics and Poetry (Palgrave Macmillan, 2010), p. 13.

[58] Warner, Monuments and Maidens, p. 244.

[59] Kathleen Nicholson, “The Ideology of Feminine 'Virtue': The Vestal Virgin in French Eighteenth-Century Alle- gorical Portraiture,” in Portraiture: Facing the Subject (Manchester University Press, 1997), p. 58ff.

10 Further reading

• Beard, Mary, “The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins,” The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 70, (1980), pp. 12–27. 9

12 Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

12.1 Text

• Vestal Virgin Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virgin?oldid=717692181 Contributors: Kpjas, Andre Engels, Youssefsan, Graft, Ihcoyc, Muriel Gottrop~enwiki, Julesd, Error, EmphasisMine, Reddi, WhisperToMe, Furrykef, VeryVerily, Khym Chanur, Re- nato Caniatti~enwiki, Wetman, Vardion, Mirv, Desmay, GreatWhiteNortherner, Brian Kendig, Everyking, Niteowlneils, Deus Ex, Sim- plex~enwiki, Antandrus, Hgfernan, Tothebarricades.tk, Bumm13, Kuralyov, Neale Monks, Ukexpat, Adashiel, Rich Farmbrough, Rho- bite, Paul August, Bender235, ZeroOne, Sunborn, Steerpike, Kwamikagami, Bill Thayer, Viriditas, Jheald, Dominic, Kelly Martin, BillC, Nolamgm, Liface, Mandarax, NebY, Rjwilmsi, Linuxbeak, Ccson, FlaBot, Rune.welsh, Tylerwillis, EamonnPKeane, YurikBot, Neither- day, Hairy Dude, Icarus3, Ukdragon37, Stephenb, CaesarGJ, Awiseman, Matticus78, Mlouns, Amcfreely, Lockesdonkey, SamuelRiv, J S Ayer, Closedmouth, Barbatus, Garion96, VanillaCreem, Attilios, Veinor, SmackBot, David.Mestel, Unyoyega, Flamarande, Lamerc, JimmyWee, Writtenright, Rrburke, Jmlk17, Chwech, Pfold, Neddyseagoon, BananaFiend, JMK, Tofuball, Rayfire, MicahDCochran, Hy- perboreios, Vlcice, Doug Weller, RazerM, Thijs!bot, Marek69, Ioates, Romperomperompe, Masamage, Fayenatic london, Deflective, Panarjedde, Cynwolfe, Magioladitis, Zobh, WolfmanSF, Domusaurea, AlephGamma, Edward321, Ekki01, GoldenMeadows, Commons- Delinker, Nono64, VirtualDelight, PrestonH, Nijoli, Interwal, SubwayEater, Samtheboy, Creepzerg3, Gwen Gale, WLRoss, Idioma-bot, Soojmagooj, Stormarm, VolkovBot, Barneca, Philip Trueman, TXiKiBoT, Zidonuke, Xtravar, FinnWiki, Fleela, Thanatos666, Wikibiohis- tory, AlleborgoBot, Snuffle41, Illinoisavonlady, SieBot, Xenobiologista, Radon210, PolarBot, WhtKnight, Fratrep, Ken123BOT, H1nkles, ClueBot, SummerWithMorons, Fyyer, DEIFJUDH, Delilahvee, Rjkardo, XLinkBot, AbstractBeliefs, NellieBly, MystBot, Kbdankbot, Metodicar, Addbot, Mouäwen, Lightbot, Salbazier, Suwa, Yobot, Catiline63, AnomieBOT, Ulric1313, Xqbot, Brutaldeluxe, LazyMaple- Sunday, Haploidavey, Rotideypoc41352, Frankcjones, Île flottante, Caledonia610, Urg writer, FoxBot, Trappist the monk, Pbsoldier007, Lotje, Promelior, Diannaa, ArwinJ, P Aculeius, Hajatvrc, Letterwing, DASHBot, WikitanvirBot, Bcauseiam, Super48paul, Plainfeather, Wikipelli, Aldrasto11, SporkBot, Ijil RHG, Mmjjvv, ClueBot NG, Kikichugirl, AlexScriabin, Joechem77, BG19bot, Glacialfox, Lesy- bil, Emilia-Romagna, ChrisGualtieri, Dexbot, Arildnordby, Foxyferdinand, Gunduu, Fessup2, Aequitas333, MinorStoop, John daly2001, Evilempire324, MB298 and Anonymous: 173

12.2 Images

• File:Alessandro_Marchesini_-_Dedication_of_a_New_Vestal_Virgin_-_WGA14054.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/ wikipedia/commons/2/21/Alessandro_Marchesini_-_Dedication_of_a_New_Vestal_Virgin_-_WGA14054.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Own work Original artist: Alessandro Marchesini • File:Casa-vestali.png Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/98/Casa-vestali.png License: Public domain Contrib- utors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Chief_Vestal.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Chief_Vestal.jpg License: Public domain Contrib- utors: G. Ferrero, The Women of the Caesars, New York, 1911. Original artist: ? • File:Commons-logo.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg License: CC-BY-SA-3.0 Contribu- tors: ? Original artist: ? • File:Flamen_Louvre_Ma431.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7c/Flamen_Louvre_Ma431.jpg License: Public domain Contributors: Jastrow (2006) Original artist: Unknownwikidata:Q4233718 • File:RomaCasaVestaliDaPalatinoOvest.JPG Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/07/ RomaCasaVestaliDaPalatinoOvest.JPG License: Public domain Contributors: No machine-readable source provided. Own work assumed (based on copyright claims). Original artist: No machine-readable author provided. MM assumed (based on copyright claims). • File:SPQRomani.svg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/SPQRomani.svg License: Public domain Con- tributors: Own work Original artist: Piotr Michał Jaworski (PioM EN DE PL) • File:Temple_of_Vesta_-_Hearth_01.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3f/Temple_of_Vesta_-_ Hearth_01.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 Contributors: Own work Original artist: FrankCJones

12.3 Content license

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