[Music]
vestal virgins in ancient rome were
typically upper-class women selected to
serve the goddess of the hearth
vesta but what was it really like to be
a vestal virgin which meant keeping the
eternal flame burning and maintaining a
bow of chastity for 30 years
here's the truth ancient rome was in
many ways a place dedicated to hierarchy
if you were going to be a person of
consequence it helped very much to be
from a high class patrician family
as opposed to lower class plebeians
money and knowing the right people were
invaluable and they could sometimes get
you an
in with the gods themselves you couldn't
become a vestal virgin if you weren't
already well situated and also
well female the vessels were chosen for
service when they were quite young
usually between 6 to 10 years old
the chief priests looked for a new
vestal from amongst the most respectable
families
in the early years of the tradition the
girls had to be pre-born and the
daughters of parents who were also
pre-born
both parents had to be alive and the
girl had to be without physical or
mental defects
later as fewer families were willing to
give up their daughters through
restrictive life as
priestess the rules loosened and
daughters of free slaves were eligible
they were chosen by a lot drawing system
and once they were publicly chosen the
young girls were sent to live in the
house of the vestals with older
priestesses
who would form their new family for the
next three decades of their lives
once a vestal virgin was chosen she
would join the other priestesses at the
temple of vesta on the roman forum
their duties included a variety of
different tasks they officiated
ceremonies who could find them preparing
sacred food
and they were even called to fetch water
from a sacred spring as water from the
regular city supply wouldn't do
but these duties while important were
small potatoes compared to their main
responsibility
keeping the fire of vesta burning it's
hard to overstate the importance of the
sacred flame in the middle of besto's
temple
the hearth was the center of the
idealized roman house giving warmth and
light
and the ability to cook food for the
family it was both literally and
symbolically the heart of the home
eventually people took this symbol and
applied it to all of rome
the fire burning in the temple of vesta
represented the home fire for the roman
people
as long as it remained burning it
guaranteed stability and power for
everyone
in a home the fire was tended to by the
women of the house
vessel virgins who were unmarried and
somewhat independent unlike a typical
roman family's actual mother and
daughters
filled in as the mother figures were all
of rome if they weren't there keeping
the home fire burning many reasons then
how could rome continue to prosper
if the fire burning in the heart of the
temple of vesta represented the
stability necessary to keep rome moving
along in grand
fashion then what happened if it went
out the flames were supposed to be
perpetual to see them extinguished would
have been shocking
for the vestals the priests and anyone
else who saw the empty hearth
for some it even pretended awful omens
or the disfavor of vesta herself
a vestal virgin who let the fire go out
faced serious punishment
they would have been flogged though
their lofty status meant that only the
high priest was allowed to strike them
their punishment was meted out in a
private place with a curtain drawn so
that the vessel's shane would be hidden
sometimes if a vestal virgin was very
lucky she could fix things before anyone
found out
emilia one of the fortunate festivals
saw that the flame had gone out one day
and immediately prayed to vesta
in some versions of the tale emilia also
threw a linen cloth on the embers as
insurance
in either case the flames were restored
and the vestals were vindicated
as part of their service vestals were to
remain chased they were like family
members to all of rome
mothers and sisters to the entire
population therefore it was a great
betrayal for a vessel to have a romantic
or physical relationship with a roman
it was very rare to uncover a confirmed
case but when it happened it drew the
ire of everyone
the crime was so abhorrent to romans
that vestal virgins who were found to
have violated the terms of their
celibacy were subject to a horrifying
fate
they were buried alive most scholars
agree that this specific punishment was
used because no roman wanted to be
directly responsible for a vestal's
death
though there may also be a connection
between burying a vessel alive and the
goddess vesta's connection to the earth
whatever the reason the vessel who was
convicted of breaking her celibacy would
be led to an underground chamber near
the collin
gate the tomb contained food drink a
lamp
and even a bed with blankets so that the
people who forced the vestal virgin into
a final resting place could say they
didn't directly cause her death
thus avoiding the wrath of any deities
who might be offended
apparently it's all about plausible
deniability with the gods
vestal virgins didn't have to work
through a lifetime appointment but their
30-year term
often left them so changed that a return
to regular roman life was an awkward
prospect
vestals were meant to spend three
decades of their life devoted to the
service of vesta and her perpetual flame
according to greek historian plutarch
the first 10 years were devoted simply
to learning how to be the best vestal
virgin possible
the next 10 were dedicated to performing
rituals while the final decade of a
vestal service was supposed to be
focused on training the next group of
priestesses
once the next 30 years were up they were
free to re-enter society and become
regular roman wise
however few or documented as having been
married though some believe that wedding
a former vestal would bring good fortune
plutarch wrote that vessels who did find
a husband were quote accompanied ever
after with regret and melancholy
this is perhaps because life is a matron
no matter how high class
was dramatically different from their
religious lives where vestals had been
relatively free to conduct their own
affairs married women would always be
expected to defer to their husbands
if someone didn't mind the 30 years of
celibacy and daily ritual life as a
vestal virgin wasn't all that bad
especially considering the lot of other
roman women whereas the wives and
daughters of rome were beholden to the
men in their lives who've dictated
practically their every move
vestals were the rare women who had at
least some charge over their own fate
vestal virgins were formally cut loose
from the patriarchal power that governed
the lives of nearly all other women of
the time
they could make their own wills since
they had the ability to own property
avestol might even make an appearance in
court on occasion because she was
considered to be of outstanding
status and virtue avestol could deliver
testimony without giving the customary
oath burst
they were also sometimes entrusted with
important legal documents like treaties
in some cases they could even cast a
vote an incredibly rare privilege for
women in male-dominated rome
on a somewhat more superficial level
vestals got some of the best seats at
gladiatorial games
they didn't have to worry about making
their way through the games through the
dirty streets
instead vestal virgins got a ride in
enclosed carriages escorted by a
personal guard
and they were always given the right of
way just behind the circular temple of
vestas at the house of the vestals
it was a comfortable place to live as
long as the inhabitants didn't mind the
cloistered lifestyle within
by the time of the roman empire the
house of the vessels had grown to be
quite opulent
the main feature of the palace grounds
was its central courtyard surrounded by
a variety of different buildings and on
the outside a two-story portico
excavations of the area in recent times
uncovered statues of the head vestal
virgins
which probably decorated the courts and
were accompanied by inscriptions
identifying the subjects and going
on about their good character these
statues also give us a decent idea of
what the vessels would have looked like
as they served the goddess
other features uncovered at the site
include fountains an in-house bakery
marble floors multiple bathrooms and
even a heating system
all told the house of the vessels had
four or five stories
that's enough room for not only six
priestesses but also a small army of
servants to support their sacred duties
festivals as unmarried women were caught
between life stages of upper class roman
ladies
born to another fate a vestal's path
would have been split into only a few
segments
they would have begun their lives as
daughters become brides for a brief
moment and then finally become honorable
submissive wives known as matrons
regular roman women dressed differently
according to their stage in life
changing out clothing jewelry and
hairstyles as they aged
festival virgins who could be in their
40s by the time they were officially
released from the duties experienced a
different fate
they were unmarried but often seen as
symbolic brides and mothers to all of
rome
tending to the sacred hearth fire for
their entire civilization
as a result their clothing reflected
that liminal intermediate state to beam
vestals wore the long dresses of matrons
but they wore their hair
in a six lock style reminiscent of
bridal fashion
they also sported a belt tied with a
special square knot that was also worn
by young brides at the time
their style of wearing their hair tied
up with different bands of cloth may
also be related to the style worn by the
mothers of rome
though there isn't definitive evidence
that it was reserved only from matrons
historians weren't sure where the
tradition of the vestal virgins began
the journal of roman studies suggests
that it has something to do with the
royal family of very ancient rome
who would have been tied up in the
spiritual life of their people as much
as the physical
it could have been that the wives of
ancient kings were the original vestals
if you were to ask a roman of the day
however they might answer differently
the vestal virgins someone say actually
helped to found rome itself
their origin stretched all the way back
to the mythology of the roman people
before the city even existed
according to the roman historian levy it
began in part with reyes sylvia
when her father king numater was
defeated by his brother amulyus she was
forced into service as a vestal virgin
emulator's goal was to destroy the
chance that new mature's descendants
could take their revenge
despite the attempts to bring an end to
numatur's line reyes sylvia gave
birth to twin boys she claimed that the
father was mars the god of war who had
impregnated her
as punishment for this decidedly
non-vestal behavior reya silvia was
thrown into prison
while her sons romulus and remus were
thrown into the tiber river
the boys were rescued by a farmer and
later grew to establish the city of rome
romulus and remus eventually brought
about amulius's worst fears by
overthrowing the traitor king and
reinstating numator's family to the
throne
for some standing by waiting for a
priestess to fulfill her obligation to
vesta before marrying was far too long a
time to wait
for one daring ruler he simply told his
intended that she wasn't going to be a
vessel anymore
eligobullus a roman emperor of the 3rd
century ce shocked many by mary nevesta
though this was just one entry in his
long list of supposed crimes against
rome and his deities
he became a teenage emperor after much
scheming by his family
authorities had hoped he would bring
stability back to a struggling roman
empire but he quickly upset everyone by
advocating for the worship of ella
gobble the syrian god who was also his
namesake
in an attempt to repair his reputation
eligabolis married aristocratic roman
women
eventually securing three wives the last
of these aquilia savera brought even
more controversy because she was a
vessel virgin
how's it gone marie
it's good to be the king roman statesman
cassius dio later wrote that elagabalus
was most frequently violating the law by
marrying aquila severo the young emperor
supposedly said he wanted to do it in
order to produce godlike children
many of the written accounts of
eligabilis reign are at least a bit
suspect given the political controversy
surrounding him and the unsubstantiated
tales of his wildness
we do know that after only four years
eligobullus was executed in 222 ce
while his children might have been
godlike or eligobolous was decidedly
not as rome turned more and more to
christianity the temple of vesta was
eventually closed
but while the rising christians saw this
as a good development those who still
believed in the old gods and goddesses
of rome were horrified
what would happen to the already
stumbling empire if esther's flame no
longer burned
for many it was the sign of impending
disaster
according to zasimus a greek historian
defying the vestal virgins and their
goddess weakened as they were
still spelled bad news for at least one
woman in zazi moose's new history
serena a christian noble woman entered
the temple grabbed a necklace from the
statue of vesta and placed it around her
own neck
an old priestess saw what serena had
done and reprimanded her
serena mocked the woman and laughed the
vessel prayed that the younger woman
would pay for her
impiety serena was then visited by
terrible dreams of her own
death it looks like her dreams were
trying to tell her something because the
young noble was ultimately accused of
conspiring with invaders and executing
in 409 ce
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