आगमे विश्वासटिप्पन्यः

Cult origins

The collegium of Vestal virgins was fundamental for the security of the Roman state. Even though the origin of the Vestals is said to be made by the legendary king Numa Pompilius, their origin is probably much older. Originally, the temple of Vesta was in the shape of a round hut made out of straw and clay with a pointed roof where the girls took care of the fire. The fire was necessary for the survival of the small communities. In religious context it’s the sacred flame, the spark of life.

In the temple of goddess Vesta a sacred fire always had to burn which represented a symbolical flame of the Roman state. That fire could only have been burned by the hands of virgin Vestal priestesses. Vestals had a great reputation and were chosen from chaste families. -The number of Vestal virgins got bigger as time went on and in the end it was 18 women and girls of whom only the oldest 6 were considered real Vestals and the other 12 were apprentices and helpers. Vestal girls shouldn’t have been younger than 6 or older than 10. Vestals had to be without any physical anomalies and with an unblemished reputation. They would spend 10 years in learning of their duties, 10 years in performing those duties and 10 more years in the training of new Vestal virgins.
Every 5 years new 3 girls would be chosen instead of 3 Vestals and when the Vestal virgin would die the new one would have been chosen instead. When a girl entered the Vestal collegium she automatically stopped being under the potestas of a man. In early times, Vestals were the only women with such privilege. This allowed them to be powerful and privileged and their words held a lot of power.

Vestals had to hold a vow of virginity for the time of their duty and breaking of this vow was considered as a direct insult to the interests of Roman state which called for severe punishments. Breaking of the vow was seen as breaking of the pact Romans made with gods (pax deorum) and was typically accompanied with the observation of bad signs. In the turbulent times of late Republic there were, of course, false accusation on Vestal virgins breaking their vows.
The punishment was severe, they would be either stoned to death or buried alive. She would be placed alive in a coffin and taken through the Forum which resembled a real funeral. Then she would be locked alive in a small room underground where she would die.

When the Vestal virgins fulfilled their duties they would get some sort of retirement money and could get married. Marrying the Vestal virgin was considered to be a great honor and good luck because her duty was the most important in the state.

The collegium of Vesta was prohibited in 394 by the order of the emperor Theodosius. The sacred flame of Vesta, that was burning for over a millennium, has been put out and the Vestal virgins were disbanded. Serena, cousin of Theodosius, came into the temple of Vesta and took the necklace from the statue of Vesta and put it on her neck. Then, one of the last Vestals appeared and cursed her because of the sacrilege and disrespect. It seems as if she really was cursed because her husband Stilicho and her son died – her family was destroyed.