"Even today we believe that our vestal Virgins can root runaway slaves to the spot by a spell, provided the slaves have not left Rome."The Vestal Virgins were venerated priestesses of Vesta (the Roman goddess of the hearth fire) and guardians of the luck of Rome who could intervene on behalf of those in trouble. Originally, there were 2, then 4 (in Plutarch's time), and then 6 Vestal Virgins.
Pliny the Elder, Natural History, Book XXVIII, 13.
The first Vestal was taken from her parents "as though she had been captured in war," and led by the hand of the second king of Rome Numa Pompilius (or, possibly, Romulus, the first king and founder of Rome), according to the second century Roman antiquarian Aulus Gellius (A.D. 123-170). Their term as priestesses of the goddess Vesta was 30 years, after which they were free to leave and marry. Most Vestal Virgins preferred to remain single after retirement. Before that, they had to maintain chastity or face a frightening death.
Girls from the ages of 6-10, originally from patrician, and later, from any freeborn family, were eligible to become Vestals (sacerdotes Vestales) provided they met certain criteria assuring their perfection, including being free of bodily imperfection and having living parents. From those offered, the selections were made by lot. In exchange for a commitment of 30 years (10 in training, 10 in service, and 10 training others) and a vow of chastity, Vestals were emancipated, and so, free to administer their own affairs without a guardian (that is, they were free of their father's potestas), given honor, the right to make a will, luxurious accommodations at state expense, and when they went out, fasces were carried before them. They wore distinctive dress and the hairstyle of a Roman bride.
The Vestals' chief function was preservation of an undying fire (ignis inextinctus) in the shrine of Vesta, goddess of the hearth, but they had other functions as well. On May 15, the Vestals threw straw figurines (Argei) into the Tiber. At the beginning of the June Vestalia festival, the inner sanctum (penus) of the circular shrine to Vesta, in the forum Romanum, was opened for women to bring offerings; otherwise it was closed to all but the Vestals and the Pontifex Maximus. The Vestals made holy cakes (mola salsa) for the Vestalia, according to ritual prescriptions, from special salt, water and grain. On the last day of the festival, the temple was ritually cleansed. The Vestals also kept wills and participated in ceremonies.
The last known chief Vestal (vestalis maxima) was Coelia Concordia in 380 A.D. The cult ended in 394.
Control Over and Punishment of the Vestal Virgins
The Vestals weren't the only priestly office Numa Pompilius instituted. Among others, he created the office of Pontifex Maximus to preside over rites, prescribe rules for public ceremony, and watch over the Vestals. It was the Pontifex' task to administer their punishment. For some offenses, a Vestal might be whipped, but if the sacred fire went out, it proved a Vestal was impure. Her impurity threatened the safety of Rome. A Vestal who lost her virginity was buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus (near the Colline gate) amid solemn ritual. The Vestal was brought to steps leading down to a room with food, a bed, and a lamp. After her descent, the steps were removed and dirt heaped on the entrance to the room. There she was left to die.Virginity of the Vestal
The reasons behind the virginal status of the Vestals have been scrutinized by classicists and anthropologists. The Vestals' collective virginity may have been a form of binding magic preserving the safety of Rome. As long as it remains intact, Rome would remain safe. Should a Vestal be unchaste, her brutal ritual sacrifice would punish not only her but whatever might be polluting Rome.For more on the magic of the Vestals, see "Why Were The Vestals Virgins? Or The Chastity of Women and the Safety of the Roman State," by Holt N. Parker. American Journal of Philology 125.4 (2004) 563-601.
Take the QUIZ on the Vestal Virgins.
See Dictionary of Roman Religion, by Leslie and Roy Adkins.
From the Forum
"There was also mention of the Vestal Virgins being able to free a slave by touching them."LeepH2
From "Why Were The Vestals Virgins? Or The Chastity of Women and the Safety of the Roman State," Holt N. Parker writes:
Contagious magic, on the other hand, is metonymic or synecdochic: "The part is to the whole as the image is to the represented object." The Vestal represents not only the idealized role of Woman -- a fusion of the archetypal roles of la Vergine and la Mamma into the figure of la Madonna -- but also the citizen body as a whole....
A Roman woman existed legally only in relation to a man. A woman's legal status was based entirely on this fact. The act of freeing a Vestal from any man so that she was free to incarnate all men removed her from all conventional classifications. Thus she was unmarried and so not a wife; a virgin and so not a mother; she was outside patria potestas and so not a daughter; she underwent no emancipatio, no coemptio and so not a ward.
