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Women In Religion: The College of Vestals. [1]

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Date: 2023-04-04  

Welcome to the Street Prophets Coffee Hour.

Last week I mentioned the Vestal Virgins in a diary about the ancient Roman Goddess known as Bona Dea. This week I'll talk more about the Vestals, their history and significance in ancient Roman society and religious practices.

Second century CE statue of a Chief Vestal or Virgo Vestalis Maxima.

The Vestal Virgins occupied a unique place in ancient Roman society. Their duties were mainly to the Goddess Vesta (Virgin Goddess of the sacred hearth and fire) but they also participated in rituals of other deities of the Roman state religion (like Bona Dea). There were six of them at any given time, and they were chosen by the chief priest of the Roman state religion, the Pontifex Maximus. Candidates aged six to ten years old were offered by their families whenever a vacancy came up, and the Pontifex Maximus made his selection in a ceremony known as captio, "capture". The candidates had to meet certain standards in order to be considered; physically and mentally without flaw or blemish, both parents still living, and in the beginning they had to be of patrician birth. (That changed later as the pool of available patrician girls shrank, making it necessary to open the criteria for selection to include plebeian girls and eventually even the daughters of freedmen.) These girls were voluntarily offered by their parents; having a Vestal in the family was an honor, and socially and politically advantageous for any family.

Classical relief sculpture depicting the Vestal Virgins.

In 12 CE the first Roman emperor, Augustus, declared himself Pontifex Maximus as well; his agenda stressed the importance of reviving Rome's ancient religious beliefs and traditions. As both Emperor and Pontifex Maximus the selection of new Vestals fell to him and every successive emperor along with control of the entirety of Roman state religion. (When later emperors proved mentally and emotionally unstable this caused problems for the College of Vestals.)

The earliest origins of the Vestal Virgins predate Rome itself; one ancient legend claims that a Vestal in Alba Longa miraculously gave birth to twin sons- Romulus and Remus, supposedly fathered by the God of war, Mars. Romulus went on to found the original settlement that eventually became the City of Seven Hills. (Miraculous virgin births are not that uncommon in ancient myths.)

Successful candidates for the College of Vestals had to commit to thirty years of service, during which their chastity was rigorously guarded. The first ten years, while they were still quite young, was devoted to their training as priestesses. The next ten years saw them serving as priestesses of Vesta and participating in rituals of other deities. The final ten years included the instruction and supervision of the youngsters who had entered Vesta's service following their own admission. While new Vestals were chosen by the Pontifex Maximus, the Vestals themselves chose the head of their order, the Virgo Vestalis Maxima, or Chief Vestal. At the end of their service a Vestal was allowed to retire with a generous state pension. She could even marry if she wanted to, though that seems to have been uncommon. Some historians think it might've been considered unlucky. I imagine that at least a few of the retirees weren't eager to hand over control of their lives, money, and property to a husband after thirty years of freedom to manage it for themselves.

Portrait bust of a particularly young Vestal Virgin showing their distinctive headwear.

Once chosen, a Vestal was answerable to the Pontifex Maximus alone. And because they were no longer under the authority of a paterfamilias, a father or other senior male relative in charge of the women and children of a family, Vestal Virgins enjoyed privileges not available to other Roman women. They could own and sell their own property free of interference, speak in a court of law, intercede on behalf of convicted criminals, write their own wills, and dispose of their property however they saw fit. Including giving it to another woman, something even Roman men were prohibited from doing. The Vestal Virgins enjoyed preferred seating at the theater and public games including gladiator combats, could attend concerts and dinner parties, and visit their female friends. While they did live in strictly separate quarters of the house occupied by the Pontifex Maximus and his family (the Domus Publicus, "Public House", a large mansion owned and maintained by the state) they weren't exactly cloistered. They dressed much like any upper class Roman women, except that their clothes were uniformly white with touches of red. They wore their hair in a particular style designated for Vestals, in six braids arranged and covered by a white headband and veil. They could travel by litter, in an enclosed carriage, or on foot; however they did so, their path was cleared by a lictor who was empowered to kill anyone who interfered with their passage or refused to make way. They were greatly honored and respected by the rest of Roman society, and seem to have had pretty good lives; they definitely enjoyed more freedoms than most Roman women.

Unlike female religious of later cultures and faiths, living in poverty wasn't required of them. Vestals didn't have to go barefoot, exist on starvation rations, take vows of silence or live in complete isolation from the rest of society. Their service was not required to last their entire life.

All they had to do was perform their duties for thirty years, maintain their chastity the entire time, and not screw up. The penalties for misconduct were severe.

What's left of the Temple of Vesta in Rome.

Tending the sacred fire in the Temple of Vesta was a primary duty shared by all members of the College of Vestals in turn; it was believed that if the fire was allowed to go out Rome itself would be in grave danger. If that happened, the Virgin who was supposed to be on watch was severely beaten. The gravest offense any Vestal Virgin could be charged with was that of sexual impurity- giving up the virginity which was not hers to give. A Vestal convicted of incestum, unlawful sex in violation of her vows of religious celibacy, was guilty of sacrilege which put the entire State at risk of divine retribution. Because the body of a Vestal was sacrosanct even then, her blood could not be spilled. She could not be executed like any other criminal. So she was taken to a specially prepared underground chamber equipped with a bed, a lamp, a little food and water...and walled up inside alive. What's more, this chamber was inside the sacred perimeter of the city of Rome; this matters because nobody else, no one at all, was allowed burial within that perimeter. But her body was still the property of the Goddess and was therefore to be treated accordingly. Her lover however, if he was known and apprehended, was beaten to death by the Pontifex Maximus.

This actually didn't happen very often. (Maybe ten times in all their long history) And when it did it often coincided with disasters, military defeats and/or civil unrest. A severe setback could be attributed to angry gods; angry gods could be blamed on faithless priestesses. Catching a Vestal in flagrante delicto with a lover wasn't even always necessary. A thwarted emperor in a fit of pique (like Domitian for instance) could point at his least favorite Vestal Virgin as the one responsible for a famine, earthquake, or an army wiped out by barbarian hordes. When you're the Emperor and Pontifex Maximus you can do that.

The first recorded Vestal Virgins (including Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus) lived in the ancient Latin city of Alba Longa, which existed from around 1200 BCE until that city was abandoned circa 600 BCE. The famous Roman writer Marcus Varro mentions four particularly well known Vestal Virgins who lived during the early Roman Kingdom (753 to 509 BCE). From the founding of the Roman Republic (traditionally said to be 509 BCE) to the Roman Empire (beginning in 27 BCE) until the adoption of Christianity as the official state religion in 380 CE, the College of Vestals was an Integral part of Roman religion and culture. In 382 CE the Christian emperor Gratian confiscated public funding and assets belonging to the Temple of Vesta, effectively disbanding and defunding the College of Vestals. After that they disappear from the historical record. By anyone's standards, they had had a good long run.

Thank you for reading. This is an open thread, all topics are welcome.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/story/2023/4/4/2161352/-Women-In-Religion-The-College-of-Vestals

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