vestal virgins paper draft
TRANSCRIPT
Vestal Virgins: Crimen Incesti or Political Ploy?
Of all the priestesses and female cults which operated within ancient Rome, the
Vestal Virgins alone were viewed as an ultimately central entity, one whose chastity and
legality determined Rome’s very survival. Formed in 715 B.C. under King Numa, the
cult of Vesta managed to withstand over 1000 years, three types of rule (kingship,
republic, empire), and two official religions (polytheism and Christianity). Realizing
“that in a warlike nation there would be more kings like Romulus than like himself, and
that they would go off to war,” King Numa established the Vestal Virgins as a home front
protection mechanism which would ensure the security and survival of the Roman
interior state when times of war required them to attend to external matters.1 This
function continued through the imperial period, when Cicero himself proclaimed, “What
is done by the Vestal Virgins is done for the Roma people.”2 As part of their duties, the
Vestals were bound to 30 years of service—virginity, tending to the central penus of the
aedes Vestae, performing public rituals, etc.—and if they failed to accomplish any of
their duties, the consequences were severe. In addition to punishments like naked
whippings at the hands of the Pontifex Maximus which the Vestals received for smaller
offenses, the Vestals were also subjected to a dramatic death ritual if they were found
guilty of crimen incesti, “a loss of virginity during a Vestal’s period of service…a crime
viewed as a particularly dire threat to the Roman state.”3 Resulting in live internment for
the Vestal, crimen incesti was recorded in only 22 cases during the 1000+ years of Vestal
existence. However, even in light of this fact, the noted somberness and silence
1 Livy, The History of Rome, Books 1-5, Transl. Valerie M. Warrior (Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing Company, 2006), p. 31.2 Cicero, De Haruspicum Responso 17.37 in Wildfang, “Rome’s Vestal Virgins,” p.31.3 Robin Lorsch Wildfang, Rome’s Vestal Virgins: A study of Rome’s Vestal priestesses in The late Republic and early Empire (London: Routledge, 2006), p. 51.Cato Worsfold, The History of the Vestal Virgins of Rome (London: Rider & Co., 1934), p. 60.
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surrounding Vestal deaths remained very different from other gory, celebrated deaths like
gladiatorial games. The heavy silence which underscored the live interment of a Vestal
reflected a culture-wide unchallenging acceptance of the punishment. In fact, historians
have long noticed that the ancient Roman primary sources omit any substantive
discussion of the validity of the ruthless Vestal punishment. “Nobody asked why it was
just these six women and no others who were so cruelly put to death if they were
suspected of losing their virginity. Nobody asked, because everybody knew the answer:
the Vestals were different.”4 Why were they different and why did the punishment for
Vestal crimen incesti remain appropriate despite (or even because of) its severity?
Considering their fecund patron goddess, historical purpose, detailed selection
requirements, and public ritual participation, the Vestal Virgins served an essential
political function in addition to their religious role. Consequently, when the Roman state
suffered extreme political instability, the religious cult of Vesta often served as the
scapegoat for politicians and emperors who utilized live internment in order to reassure
the public that Rome’s religious traditions and political heart would always be protected.
As part of a public cult, the six women selected to serve as Vestal virgins
occupied an immensely visible role in Roman politics. Nevertheless, while Roman
authorities were “concerned with the organization of public cult and religious authority
because these things were intimately bound up with the fundamental power structures of
society,” it was other, more symbolic factors which really made the cult of Vesta more
important than all the others.5 According to both Aristotle and the overall Graeco-Roman
tradition, the household and hearth were the basic building block of the city-state; “both
4 Ariadne Staples, From Good Goddess to Vestal Virgins: Sex and Category in Roman Religion (London and New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 132.5 James B. Rives, Religion in the Roman Empire (Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2007), p. 85.
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were part of the ‘natural’ structuring of human society.”6 Similarly, this cult which
worshipped the goddess of the hearth, Vesta, attained a level of state worship higher than
others. In addition to residing in the aedes Vestae in the Forum (the heart of the entire
Roman world) and publicly participating in at least nine annual state rites, the Vestal
Virgins dealt with other public exposure, including accusations, trials, and live
internments following crimen incesti convictions.7 Among the public servants, Vestals
alone faced immediate trial, public ignominy, and live internment.
Of all Roman officials, only a Vestal was suspended from her duties on the slightest suspicion of wrongdoing, and only she faced a judicial inquiry by the full Pontifical College. Of all Roman women accused of sexual misdeeds, only a Vestal faced such a court or such public proceedings. Of all Romans, only a Vestal seemingly faced a trial with so little possibility of defending herself.8
While other crimes could be atoned, crimen incesti was seen as an ordinary and voluntary
affront to the life spring goddess Vesta herself in addition to threatening the Roman
state’s traditional security. Consequently, while there are numerous debates regarding
the actual meaning of the live internment of unchaste Vestals, the live burial is typically
thought to connote a physical atonement or offering to an offended Vesta, goddess of the
earth, underworld, and hearth.9 In addition to the goddess-worship aspect of the Vestal
live internment, there remained the Vestals’ more observable role as guardians of Rome’s
symbolic storehouse. According to Plutarch, these priestesses were the only Romans
allowed within the penus of the aedes Vestae, and therefore, they alone knew the exact
nature of those objects preserved within Rome’s central storeroom. “What was important
was not so much the precise contents of the penus as the fact that the Vestals alone had
6 Rives, p. 119.7 Wildfang, p. 22.8 Ibid., p. 56.9 Ibid., p. 59.
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responsibility for these contents and that these contents, whatever they were, were
integral to the continued existence of Rome.”10
When one combines the Vestals’ major role in the continuation of Rome’s
ultimate sustenance with the fact that in ancient Rome, “women are seen as primarily to
blame [for unfortunate state occurrences],” it quickly becomes clear that Vestals were
likely targets during periods of political tumult. Furthermore, any Vestal transgressions
of crimen incesti would practically necessitate a harsh punishment like live internment
since the Vestals’ failure to properly protect Rome’s central source of power would be
viewed as a horrific crime against both tradition and the security of the Roman state.11 In
ancient Rome, “[Women were] presented as particularly susceptible to religious frenzy.
The disruption of Roman religion is inextricably associated with feminine sexual
immorality.”12 In addition to the proclivity to blame women for unfortunate set-backs,
the Roman people also tended to interpret events as signs that the gods were not pleased.
Another distinctive feature of the Roman tradition was a strong emphasis on divination. The traditional Roman form of divination was augury, the interpretation of the calls and flights of birds; magistrates were required to employ augury before any public business in order to determine whether or not the gods approved.13
Consequently, just as early priestesses were sometimes saved from charges of
unchastity by performing miracles with Vesta’s help, so too was there immediate
suspicion of Vestal chastity when serious state crises occurred later.14 There are
numerous recorded instances in which seemingly innocuous accidents were attributed to
Vestal unchastity, leading to a so-called witch hunt among the six priestesses.
10 Rives, p. 17.11 Catherine Edwards, The Politics of immorality in Ancient Rome (Cambridge University Press, 1993), p. 44.12 Ibid., p. 44-4513 Rives, p. 83.14M. Beard, “The sexual status of Vestal Virgins,” in Journal of Roman Studies, vol. 70, 1980, p. 16.
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Accordingly, “every incestum accusation was preceded by a mysterious omen (e.g. the
extinguishing of the fire in the aedes Vestae).15 Livy describes how in 483 B.C., state-
wide disagreement over new agrarian legislation, related conflict with the tribunes, and a
new war with Veii (while the Volsci revolted) coalesced into a panic-ridden atmosphere.
To add to everyone’s apprehension, there were prodigies from the heavens, signaling almost daily threats in both the city and the countryside. Both publicly and privately, seers inspected entrails and observed the flight of birds, declaring that the reason for the divine displeasure was nothing less than that the sacred rites had not been properly performed. These fears eventually resulted in the condemnation of the Vestal Oppia for unchastity and her punishment.16
A similar case occurred when a Roman lady was thrown from her horse, and the cause
was likewise attributed to Vestal unchastity. Thus, in addition to the numerous ancient
sources which explicitly linked political turmoil with the occurrence of Vestal unchastity,
it is also worth noting that such turmoil was specifically linked to the important Vestal
cult and not other priestesses. For example, one may consider other female cults like the
Bona Dea, which was associated more with mysterious ritual like that on the eve of the
feast of all men, during which they sacrificed a young or pregnant sow and then drank
and made merry alongside the ritual participants, which included the women of Rome
and the Vestals.17 Unlike these cults, which were viewed as important aggregate groups,
the Vestal Virgins were repeatedly defined by ancient historians as central and vital to the
entire Roman state. Dionysius and Plutarch both supported the idea that “as Vesta, who
15 Wildfang, p. 56.16 Livy 2.42. 17 H. H. J. Brouwer, Bona Dea: The Sources and a Description of the Cult (Leiden, The Netherlands: E.J. Brill, 1989) in Wildfang, p. 31Edwards, p. 44. The story of Clodius’ infiltration of the rites of the Bona Dea resulted in worrisome ideas about female impurity, but there is no known live internment for any of the female priestesses with which he likely defiled in some manner. “Though the chastity of Vestals is of a rather different order from that of the ordinary Roman matrona, rules governing their behaviour do suggest the threat female unchastity was felt to pose to the religious well-being of the state” was immense.
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herself typified the earth, was to be regarded as the centre of the universe, so fire, which
is sacred to her was placed in the centre of the City.”18 Similarly, in his poem Fasti,
which he wrote during the reign of Augustus, Ovid includes a section titled “April
Named After Venus,” in which he appeals to respected goddesses like Venus and Vesta,
both of whom he writes “well deserve to sway, the world entire; she owns a kingdom
second to that of no god; she gives laws to heaven and earth and to her native sea, and by
her inspiration she keeps every species in being.”19 With Vesta being such a central
goddess, it remains understandable that whenever there was turmoil threatening to
undermine the heart of the Roman state, the Vestal Virgins were treated as guilty political
scapegoats since their religious function was so intertwined with the hearth of the Roman
state as well.
From the earliest inception of the Vestals, the cult served a historical function and
was consistently treated as much as a lasting, political unit as a religious cult. In fact, one
of the earliest Vestals described in ancient texts is Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus
(the founder of Rome), whom Amulius appointed a Vestal in order to secretly prevent her
from having children and providing Amulius’s brother, Numito, from making any
legitimate claim to the throne.20 In light of this political taint which the religious cult
maintained from its inception, one must also note that of the 22 cases of alleged Vestal
crimen incesti which occurred during the over 1000 years of Vestal existence, the
majority arose during periods of political instability.21 Of the 18 live internments which
18 Dionysius, II, 66.Plutarch, Numa, XI.Worsfold, p. 17.19 Ovid, Fasti, Transl Sir James George Frazer, Vol. I (London: Macmillan and Co., Limited St. Martin’s Street, 1929), p. 185.20 Livy, I, 3, in Sir T. Cato Worsfold, p. 15.21 Staples, p. 129.
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resulted from these accusations, three of the ritualistic burials occurred in B.C. 114
alone.22 These three trials of the Vestals Aemilia, Licinia, and Marcia took place in the
wake of destruction for the army of C. Porcius Cato at the hands of the Scordisci in
Thrace. Thus, the fact that 1/6 of all the Vestal live internments ever recorded for nearly
1100 years occurred within just one, tumultuous year supports the postulate contending
that political attacks on Vestals typically occurred during times of political unrest rather
than simply occurring whenever there existed genuine religious concern among the
populous.23 “Just as Scipio waged war on Rome’s enemies, hostile peoples who (in
theory at least) threatened the security of the res publica, so Cato fought the enemy
within..[while Romans] attacked their fellow citizens at the empire’s centre, in disputes
over the bounds of Romanitas (‘Romanness’) itself.”24 In addition to serving as a stalwart
ideal of ‘Romanness,’ the Vestal Virgins had a permanency which also reflected the
public’s hope for a permanent Roman state. Throughout the imperial period, the
“concern for [crimen incesti] omens continued … when many other forms of divination
seem to have faded away.”25 During the massive reorganization under Augustus and
even during the religiously transitional reign of the first Christian emperor, Constantine,
around A.D. 313, the cult of Vesta continued to prosper. In fact, when Christian Emperor
Constantine’s sons, Constans and Constantius (A.D. 360) decreed that temples were to
immediately close and no more sacrifices could be made, the statesman Symmchus, “the
last of the Pagans,” (A.D. 410), says that Constantius “suffered the privileges of the
Vestal Virgins to remain inviolate … he never attempted to deprive the Empire of the
22 Ibid., p. 137.23 Ibid., p. 136.24 Edwards, p. 2.25 Rives, p. 83.
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sacred worship of antiquity.”26 Thus, despite periods of monstrous religious change,
whether it be Augustus’s reinstatement of ancient traditions and rituals like the
Lupercalia or Constantine’s transitioning of Rome’s state religion from polytheism to
Christianity, it remained pertinent in the minds of ancient people to actively support and
discuss the active Vestal power.27 As an institution, the cult of Vesta served to link both
the changing politics of the imperial age to the golden age of the republic and the glorious
mythical founding of Rome under Romulus on Palatine Hill. Thus, it made sense for
authors and emperors alike to discuss and preserve the cult of Vesta in order to ensure a
relatively calm control of the empire.
In addition to simply mentioning the Vestals in their literary works, ancient
historians and authors made it a point to clearly associate destructive kings, leaders, and
emperors with the defiling of the Vestal order; in turn, this negative connotation led some
of their contemporary Roman rulers to react strongly to the accusation of crimen incesti
in order to distance themselves and their era of rule from periods in which Roman
downfall seemed possible. Writers and rulers alike unconsciously understood that
“during the reigns of such abnormal Emperors as Nero, Commodus and Heliogabalus, the
Vestals and their charges, the holy relics, had unpleasant adventures.”28 After all,
venerable sources like Suetonius derided emperors like Nero for transgressing established
functions and boundaries of the Vestal order. In his Twelve Caesars, Suetonius writes:
Not satisfied with seducing free-born boys and married women, Nero raped the Vestal Virgin Rubria. He nearly contrived to marry the freedwoman Acte, by persuading some friends of consular rank to swear falsely that she came of royal stock. Having tried to turn the boy Sporus into a girl by castration, he went through a wedding ceremony with him—
26 G. P. Baker, “Constantine the Great and the Christian Revolution,” Gibbon, chaps. XVI an XXV, in Worsfold, p. 75.27 Worsfold, p. 71.28 Ibid., p. 70.
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dowry, bridal veil and all—which the whole Court attended; then brought him home, and treated him as a wife. He dressed Sporus in the fine clothes normally worn by an Empress and took him in his own litter not only to every Greek assize and fair, but actually through the street of Rome, kissing him amorously now and then.29
By juxtaposing Nero’s rape of a Vestal virgin with public falsehoods and the disruption
of Roman social standards of marriage (whether due to social status differences or
perverting the institution of marriage), Suetonius essentially declared that those who
violated the ancient rites of the Vestal Virgins were similar to those who threatened
traditional and secure societal structures like the court of law and marriage. Heroian also
describes how Vestals were manipulated for political purposes by corrupt leaders like
Caracalla, who in A.D. 211-217, massacred president and procurators and “buried the
Vestal Virgins quicke, pretending they had lost their virginity,” all in order to attack or
weaken Rome’s upper social class.30 One of the worst violations of Vestal chastity
occurred under Heliogabalus (A.D. 218-222), who according to Lampridius declared
himself the true god and tried to impose his personal cult on the Roman world by
destroying the central cult of Vesta among others; in order to do so, Heliogabalus
committed incest with a Vestal Virgin, Julia Aquilia Severa, removed the secret relics of
the Vestals, profaned the worship of the Roman people, broke into the inner shrine
(penus) of the aedes Vestae, and defiled himself and the men who were with him.31 Thus,
Heliogabalus not only convinced a Vestal Virgin to commit crimen incesti as a means of
garnering more power himself, but he also served as the personal manifestation of
megalomaniac leadership which would have appeared negative to many contemporaries
and later leaders.32 Similarly, Emperor Domition accused the chief of the Vestal Virgins, 29 Suetonius, Twelve Caesars (London: The Folio Society, 1957), p. 224-225.30 Herodian, IV, 6, 4, out of the Greek originall 6290, in Worsfold, p. 72.31 Lampridius, as cited in Wolsford, p. 72-73.32 Wolsford, p. 73.
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Cornelia, of incest, and decided she should be condemned without proper trial defense
and buried alive, simply as a means to make his reign illustrious by such a strong
example.33 Just as the disorder of the final years of the Roman Republic was reflected by
Publius Clodius, a young an politically ambitious Roman aristocrat, who disguised
himself as a woman in B.C. 62 and infiltrated the rites of the all-female Bona Dea ritual,
so too did many view the progressively more public and heinous Vestal transgressions of
the imperial period as indicative of a weak Roman state.34
In addition to the negative moral and political associations with crimen incesti
creating an aura of imminent Roman downfall, the very selection and functions of the six
Vestal priestesses themselves left them in a liminal state whereby they were essentially
“married” to the Roman state. As soon as one of the six official Vestals either left the
order after 30 years (which many did not) or died, the official search for a replacement
commenced, during which a pristine, 6-10 year old girl would be selected to serve the
Roman state as a Vestal Virgin for a 30-year term; as soon as the pontifical college
selected the young girl, the Vestal introductory rite called captio occurred, whereby a
Vestal was removed “from the cult of her birth family but manifestly did not complete
the transfer of a girl to the cult of any new family. Instead, the new Vestal remained in a
liminal state, outside the realm of any one Roman family.”35 Further cementing this
unprotected, in-between Vestal status was the fact that the inducted Vestals continued to
wear their hair in the sex crines style of a bride on her wedding day. Unlike brides who
only wore this hairstyle one day in order to reflect their brief transitory period between
the time they left their birth family cults and the time they would become members of
33 Ibid., p. 71.34 Edwards, p. 34.35 Wildfang, p. 13.
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their new husbands’ cults, Vestal Virgins retained this hairstyle throughout the 30 years
of service, possibly as a visible reminder of her peculiar undefined status and a need for
protection and safety.36 Similar to a matronae marriage rite in some ways yet differing in
specific important ones, captio reaffirmed the ancient Greek idea that sex was polluting,
and virginity was required for close contact with a deity.37 In Greece, the law had
forbidden common worshippers from entering a temple up to 2-3 days following
intercourse; similarly, the Vestals were thought to be in constant contact with a deity
(Vesta), and therefore, they had to refrain from sexual intercourse all the time.38 This
virginity, however, existed within a state that was neither wholly Virgine nor fully
Matronae since the Vestals were essentially married to and participants within the Roman
state without any traditional male social protection. Thus, the Vestal retained the
hairstyle of virgin bride, the dress of Roman matrons, and a possible spousal relationship
with the Pontifex Maximus.39 In this in-between category, the Vestals were viewed in
various manners. Some Roman citizens associated the Vestals primarily with the hearth,
ancient fertility cults, and the matronae. Accordingly, these citizens also viewed the
Vestals’ virginity as being reflective of “stored up, potential procreative power” for the
state. Antithetically, other Romans interpreted the Vestal virginity as primarily
contributing to their purificatory power, similar to a sterilizing flame.40 Some historians
like Ovid openly agreed with the latter category by comparing the Vestals to this sterile
flame in writings like his poem, Fasti. In that poem, Ovid describes Vesta as a sterile
36 Ibid., p. 13.37 Beard, p. 12.38 Ibid., p. 13.39 During the captio selection ceremony, the Vestals were taken from their father by the high priest just like virgin brides were taken from their mother by their betrothed. 40 Beard, p. 15.Wildfang, p. 29.
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flame who “is a virgin, giving and taking / no seed, and [who] loves companions in
virginity.”41 This interpretation of the Vestals’ primary function as purifying is further
supported by the historical fact that “four of the nine annual rites in which they [the
Vestals] participated, were mainly purificatory in nature.”42 Thus, despite the debate over
whether Vestal virginity indicated stored-up power or simply purity, the Roman public
agreed on one thing—the power of the Vestals were dependent upon their virginity.
“Whatever else these priestesses were and whatever else they did, they were virgins, and
their cult had as one of its central aspects the preservation of this virginity.”43 As a result,
any threats of unchastity or crimen incesti undermined the vital power of the already
liminal Vestal Virgins, which threatened Roman confidence especially during the
uncertain late Republic and the late empire. This powerful threat to the state obviously
required swift measures to “clean” the heart of the Roman cult itself, and the result was
violent live internment for guilty Vestals.
Another factor that made the Vestals vulnerable was their dual function as a religious
cult and a central political power in Rome; because of this, they could not be completely
secluded so as to protect themselves from threats to their virgin status and therefore often
became targets during tumultuous times. In fact, the Vestals socialized just like any
noble Roman woman would, by making merry, drinking wine, and being entertained by
flautists and other musicians at city parties.44 The Vestals participated quite publicly in
the state rites of the Parentatio, Lupercalia, Fornacalia, re-kindling of the sacred fire, visit
to the Sacra Argeorum, Fordicidia, Parilia, Bona Dea, mola salsa preparation, Festival of
Vesta (in which the penus vestae was opened to the matronae), Festival of Consus, 41 Ovid, Fasti 6.291-294, in Wildfang, p. 29.42 Wildfang, p. 33.43 Ibid., p. 51.44 H. H. J. Brouwer, p. 31.
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Festival of Ops Consiva, Festival of Jupiter, and a few others. In addition to being the
central actors in rituals like the Argei, which both Dionysius of Halicarnassus and Ovid
describe as having the Vestal Virgins and Pontifices (the most important priests) hurl
approximately 30 straw male effigies into the Tiber River in order to symbolize the
disposal of ghosts and spirits thought to be present during the Lemuria,45 ancient sources
note that the Vestals also “made public appearances sitting in special seats at the
gladiatorial games…[and] public theatrical performances and gladiatorial games in Rome
were as much religious rites meant to honour various divinities, as they were sources of
public entertainment.”46 Thus, the Vestals’ presence visually reinforced the public
awareness of their special status as a female state cult. Furthermore, Vestals attained
many rights not held by any other type of Roman female. For instance, a Vestal
possessed the right to give evidence in a Court of law without taking the oath, according
to Aul. Gell., VII, 7, 2.47 Similarly, Plutarch describes in Numa 10, how when the Vestals
went out, if they crossed paths with a person being led to execution, they could spare his
life.48 As one of only two groups (themselves and the matronae) able to wear a stola, the
Vestals publicly declared that their civic rights and purity were just as powerful as the
upper class matronae. In fact, the stola (long dress) was likely a visible sign of purity
since in addition to freedwomen and prostitutes, divorced women were also prohibited
from wearing it.49 And the political sway of the Vestals might have even equaled that of
male political leaders. If one is to believe a new archaeological find in Athens. at the
45 Dionysius of Halicarnassus 1.38.3Ovid, Fasti. 5.621-622. “Today also the Virgin hurls the straw dummies / of earlier men from the oaken bridge.”Wildfang, p. 28.46 Ibid., p. 33.47 Worsfold, p. 5148 Plutarch, Numa, 10, in Worsfold, p. 48.49 Wildfang, p. 13.
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Theatre of Dionysus, in which three seats are inscribed to “Hestia on the Acroppolis,
Livia, and Julia” respectively, it is likely that Rome’s Vestals were actually worshipped
in Greece by 2 B.C., just as male emperors and political leaders were honored within the
far corners of the Roman-influenced world.50 Furthermore, there are a number of
inscriptions on the Acropolis which prove that the Athenian people honored the Roman
Vestals with statues.51
Since there’s no proof that the worship of Hestia was ever institutionalized in the Greek world as a priesthood or cult, in addition to the fact that the Vesta was associated with the Roman Livia, and that the inscription distinguishes the Vesta cult on the Acropolis from the other Ahenian hesiai, means that the goddess in question was likely the Roman version of Hestia, aka, the Vesta of the Roman forum.52
If one agrees with this interpretation of the Athenian homage to the Roman Vestals, it
simply aggrandizes the amount of political power which the religious cult of Vesta
definitely possessed. Consequently, since the cult of Vesta straddled the line of both
public, state cult and ritualized, religious cult, it makes rational sense that the punishment
for a transgression (crimen incesti) of both those cults be dealt with in a publicly
ritualized manner—live internment.
Because the function of the Vestals as a purifying agent necessitated their
virginity above all other tasks and virtues, because Roman self-assuredness fluctuated
between megalomania and low self esteem thereby exciting those left behind into a
frenzy, and because of the fact that these Vestal Virgins served a political function as
well as a religious one, leaders and other ranking Romans utilized the accusation of
crimen incesti as a political weapon. In keeping with this political fervor, it follows that
50 M. Kajava, “Vesta and Athens,” in O. Salomies (ed.), The Greek Eastin the Roman context (2001), p. 72-76.51 Ibid., p. 72.52 Ibid., p. 76.
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“the loss of the Vestal’s virginity invalidated the rituals she had performed, thus incurring
the gods’ anger. The punishment was burial alive, outside the Colline Gate [i.e. still
within the city walls].”53 Apart from its obviously virginal status and goddess worship,
the state cult of Vesta had inner rites which remained relatively unknown to the public.
Nobody knew what was inside the aedes Vestae temple except the Vestals. By placing
such an ambiguous shrine and cult at its heart, Rome itself developed an equivocal
identity, and this state left Rome susceptible to war from the outside and threats to
‘Romanness’ from the inside.54 As a cult which overlapped both the exterior public and
interior religious realms, the Vestal Virgins were viewed as particularly vital to
maintaining the Roman identity. When this already indefinite identity was threatened by
political instability, it follows that the heart of Rome’s state hearth (the cult of Vesta)
would be seen as infected. In order to remedy this simultaneously public and religious
infection within the Vestals, ritualized live internment for the offending Vestal appeared
the obvious option.
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