[1] Chosen by lot from a group of specially selected, physically impeccable girls with two living parents, a Vestal entered the Order between her sixth and tenth year and was sworn to thirty years of chastity and demending service. The prosecution offered two Sibylline prophecies in support of the final verdicts. (2004), pp. Any sexual relationship with a citizen was therefore considered to be incestum and an act of treason. This would have happened slowly and imperfectly, but I suspect not as slowly and imperfectly as it did (or has yet to do) in a world dominated by aggressive androcentric monotheism. In the writings of Suetonius and Pliny, we can see that the vow of chastity was becoming irrelevant to the order, society and those in power, particularly during the reigns of Vespasian and Titus. They were given special privileges and entrances to games, theater shows, and other events The man who violated her was sentenced to death by whipping. Vestals found guilty of this crime were buried alive, according to Rome's Vestal Virgins. Of course, an assigned life of chastity â even one that came with some big perksâisnât something weâd support today. with an international group of editorial assistants. In antiquity, her fire burned in Roman homes as well as in the inner sanctum of her temple in the Roman Forum. But he did not let Licinia go until he had acquired her property.” Licinia became a Vestal in 85 BC and remained a Vestal until 61 BC. (in short "QFG") under the supervision of senior executive editor Ancient tradition required that an unchaste Vestal be buried alive within the city, that being the only way to kill her without spilling her blood, which was forbidden. Livy, Plutarch, and Aulus Gellius attribute the creation of the Vestals as a state-supported priestesshood to king Numa Pompilius, who reigned circa 717â673 BC. Titus Flavius Domitianus, Domitian, was born October 24, 51 CE on Pomegranate Street in the sixth district of Rome, youngest son of the future emperor Vespasian (64 -79 CE); his mother, Flavia Domitillia Major, died in his youth. Iâve always believed that the Vestal Order was an early vehicle for feminism and were it not for the intolerance of early Christians who found themselves in positions of power, I suspect it would have expanded its influence and relevance to advance the status of women in the ancient world. The ancient Romans believed that Vestaâs fire guarded their world, families and lives, and that if the fire went out, Rome would fall to invading barbarian armies. The Vestal was brought to steps leading down to a room with food, a bed, and a lamp. 418 – 439. In 73BC she was acquitted of incestum with Lucius Sergius Catilina. 20 Vesta, goddess of the home and hearth, is symbolized by and resides in her sacred fire. In December o⦠The vestal virgins vowed chastity, and if any was broken, they were buried alive, by a law of Numa Pompilius their founder. Itâs a pretty dramatic image: a young woman being thrown into a shallow grave and trying to claw her way out while dirt is being piled on top of her. Despite the resurgence and richness of the Vesta tradition, many people who think "Vestal Virgin" still think of one thing: the fact that Vestals who broke their vow of chaste service to the goddess were buried alive. But like any social change, this one was destined to move forward in stops and startsâand its biggest "stop" was the violence and oppression committed against the Vestal Order not by the polytheistic establishment, but by the first Christian emperors whose androcentric and monotheistic religion demanded the total destruction of a socio-religious order that elevated the status of women. The chief rules prescribed them were, to vow the strictest chastity for the space of thirty years. In the thousand-plus years that the Temple of Vesta was active in the Roman Forum, only a handful of Vestals were ever killed in this way. http://cof.quantumfuturegroup.org/events/5616. © 2020 by Tango Media Corporation All Rights Reserved. Oxford: Routledge, 2006. The Emperor Domitian imposed strict morality laws on all women, and he had four out of the six Vestals tried for breaking their vows. Vestal virgins took a vow of chastity, which lasted for their full term of office, 30 years. More specifically, the text focuses on the roles of Vest⦠70, (1980), pp. page for info on data we are building upon. Finally, some people automatically assume this punishmentâalong with the vow of chastity itselfâwas a misogynistic way to control female sexuality. Fabia, chief Vestal (b ca 98–97 BC; fl. Similarly Postumia, who though innocent according to Livy was tried for unchastity with suspicions being aroused through her immodest attire and less than maidenly manner. Cassius Dio credits no fewer than three Vestals with execution for unchastity in 114 BCE — but one might note that this is a period of deepening class tension in Rome in the aftermath of the Gracchi. After their thirty years of service, they were free to leave the order as wealthy women. Ancient biographies are carefully constructed in a way that emphasizes the information that the author sees as most important. The grim procession to this âroomâ is described in a nineteenth-century book, A School Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities: 4. To solve this problem, the Romans buried the offending priestess with a nominal quantity of food and other provisions, not to prolong her punishment, but so that the Vestal would not technically be buried in the city, but instead descend into a “habitable room”. After being condemned by the college of pontifices, a Vestalâs executioners would prepare for her a very small vault in the ground, usually containing a couch and small amount of food and water. Peck, Harry Thurston, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities (1898). The last Chief Vestal was a woman named Coelia Concordia. Vestal Virgins: Were They Really Buried Alive? The Vestal Order was Romeâs only full-time, state-funded priesthood. However, it was also illegal to bury anyone within the city limits. She would then technically die in a habitable room and not a death chamber. In antiquity, her fire burned in Roman homes as well as in the ⦠Oppia was a Vestal Virgin in the early republic. Some cleared themselves through ordeals. According to Livy, Numa introduced the Vestals and assigned them salaries from the public treasury. The Vestal Tuccia was accused of fornication, but she carried water in a sieve to prove her chastity. A Vestal who lost her virginity was buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus (near the Colline gate) amid solemn ritual. Three were found guilty and buried alive. The main duty they must perform was to guard the fire of Vesta. And when the executioner offered her his hand, she shrunk from it, and turned away with disgust; spurning the foul contact from her person, chaste, pure, and holy: and with all the deportment of modest grace, she scrupulously endeavoured to perish with propriety and decorum. Choosing suitable priestesses for this duty was essential. Such an assumption is a lazy way to look at history: it looks through a 21st century lens, which often includes a hypersensitivity toward gender issues, and fails to truly put these things into historical or social context. Unlike his much older brother, Titus, he did not share in the court education, although many considered him bright. If they broke their vow of virginity; they were buried alive in a place allotted to that peculiar use.â Vesta, goddess of the home and hearth, is symbolized by and resides in her sacred fire. â¦the very interchangeability and exchangeability on which Rome was based necessitated that a woman still be attached to, and be a member of, her fatherâs family for her to have value as an exchange. The pontifex maximus, having lifted up his hands to heaven and uttered a secret prayer, opened the litter, led forth the culprit, and placing her on the steps of the ladder which gave access to the subterranean cell, delivered her over to the common executioner and his assistants, who conducted her down, drew up the ladder, and having filled the pit with earth until the surface was level with the surrounding ground, left her to perish deprived of all the tributes of respect usually paid to the spirits of the departed. Of course, that isnât how it happened. The style and technique in which a biography is written can largely impact the moral or meaningful information that the audience finds significant. Plutarch attributes the founding of the Temple of Vesta to ⦠The Chronicle of the Fall of the Roman Empire Credits The 2nd- century antiquarian Aulus Gellius writes that the first Vestal taken from her parents was led away in hand by Numa. Their men would be slaughtered, their women and children violated and enslaved, and their entire way of life destroyed. YourTango may earn an affiliate commission if you buy something through links featured in this article. Postumia was sternly warned “to leave her sports, taunts and merry conceits.” Aemilia, Licinia, and Martia were executed after being denounced by the servant of a barbarian horseman. before you make use of this Database. Convicted vestals Aurelia Severa, Clodia Laeta, and Pomponia Rufina were buried alive, while Cannutia Crescentina managed to commit suicide before that happened by leaping from the roof of her familyâs house. Kroppenberg, Inge, “Law, Religion and Constitution of the Vestal Virgins,” Law and Literature, 22, 3, 2010, pp. Castro Pretorio is the 18th rione of Rome (Italy), identified by the initials R. XVIII, and it is located within the Municipio I. "QFG:COF" Fonteia, served ca. By guarding the flame, the Vestals ensured the pax deorumâthe peaceful contract between the gods and humankindâwould remain unbroken. Again, it was believed this gave them special ability to perform Vestaâs rites. Domitian generally raged most furiously where his evidence failed him most hopelessly. Licinia (flourished 1st century BC), who was supposedly courted by her kinsman, the so-called “triumvir” Marcus Licinius Crassus, who in fact wanted her property. Parker, Holt N. “Why Were the Vestals Virgins? To prevent this from happening, an order of Vestal priestesses was created to keep the eternal flame alight in Vestaâs temple. That's why the Vestal Virgins of Rome were buried alive if they got caught fooling around - no blood was spilled but they still got their punishment. There a small vault underground had been previously prepared, containing a couch, a lamp, and a table with a little food. A few Vestals were acquitted. In this way, Vestal privileges were an early form of womenâs rights that could be expanded beyond the Vestal Order. 91–69 BC, recorded as a Vestal during the trial of her brother in 69 BC, but she would have begun her service before her father’s death in 91. Rather, I think it was a punishment that the ancients believed fit the crime, even though the crime is one that to our 21st century sensibilities isnât a crime at all. After her descent, the steps were removed and dirt heaped on ⦠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 be a connection between burying a Vestal alive and the goddess Vesta's connection to the earth. Now Licinia was the owner of a pleasant villa in the suburbs which Crassus wished to get at a low price, and it was for this reason that he was forever hovering about the woman and paying his court to her, until he fell under the abominable suspicion. focuses on a chronological and categorized collection of various environmental and social events that accompanied the Fall of the Roman Empire. Please view our Quantum Future Group Inc. Hestia: Vestal virgins and Nuns. This problem was overcome by providing the condemned priestess with a little food and water. (Although considering the limited rights and choices most women had at this time, being a Vestal may have been more of a blessing than a sacrifice.) As Lindner points out, the story about Vestals being buried alive is told to all visitors to Rome (including myself). Their virginity was therefore not an attempt to control their lives, but rather a consequence of the condition required to do their job and attract the goddessâs good graces. In Rome, most people were buried outside the city, but the Vestal Virgins were allowed to be buried inside the city, which was an honor. In 483 BC, following a series of portents, and advice from the soothsayers that the religious ceremonies were not being duly attended to, the vestal virgin Oppia was found guilty of a breach of chastity and punished. Aemilia, who had supposedly led the two others to follow her example, was condemned outright. Some chose to marryâas rich, well-connected women they were certainly desirable wivesâbut many chose to stay with the order. Iâve been studying the Vestals for decades, and it would take volumes to cover it in a comprehensive way. Talk about a technicality. They tended the sacred flame. The rione takes its name by the ruins of the Castrum Praetorium, the barracks of the Praetorian Guard, included in the Aurelian Walls. Read about the Vestals in BRIDES OF ROME: A NOVEL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS. That emperor had determined that Cornelia, chief of the Vestal Virgins, should be buried alive, from an extravagant notion that exemplary severities of this kind conferred lustre upon his reign. The actual manner of the procession to Campus Scleretatus has been described like this: When condemned by the college of pontifices, she was stripped of her vittae and other badges of office, was scourged, was attired like a corpse, placed in a close litter, and borne through the forum attended by her weeping kindred, with all the ceremonies of a real funeral, to a rising ground called the Campus Sceleratus. Plutarch says: “And yet when he was further on in years, he was accused of criminal intimacy with Licinia, one of the Vestal virgins and Licinia was formally prosecuted by a certain Plotius. War, Vestal Virgins, and Live Burials in the Roman Republic The charges were almost certainly trumped up, and may have been politically motivated. just within the city walls, close to the Colline gate. The chastity of the Vestals was considered to have a direct bearing on the health of the Roman state. See also our I think so. Why Ingrid Bergman was âburied aliveâ after her affair The temples of Hestia were tended by the Vestal Virgins. BRIDES OF ROME: A NOVEL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS. Spilling the blood of a Vestal was forbidden though and under Roman law, no person was to be buried within the city, which meant that the Romans had to get creative. In 483 BC, following a series of portents, and advice from the soothsayers that the religious ceremonies were not being duly attended to, she was found guilty of a breach of chastity and punished. The punishment for violating the oath of celibacy was to be buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus or “Evil Field” (an underground chamber near the Colline Gate) with a few days of food and water. This relationship gave rise to rumors. Itâs also worth noting that the Vestalâs male lover didnât fare any better than she did. Vestal virgins were women priestesses to the goddess of Hearth, Vesta, in Ancient Rome. ) As we have seen, sexual violence against women punctuated important episodes of early Roman history. 12–27. Dionysius of Halicarnassus claims that the earliest Vestals at Alba Longa were whipped and “put to death” for breaking their vows of celibacy, and that their offspring were to be thrown into the river. Moreover, she would die willingly. The project's main effort is to survey ancient and modern texts and to extract excerpts describing various relevant events for analysis and mapping. Rome’s Vestal Virgins. 563–601. If a Vestal Virgin failed in her duties, she was severely beaten and the punishment for loss of virginity was being buried alive, though other, worse, punishments were sometimes given such as having molten lead poured down one's throat. My goal here is merely to make us re-think the knee-jerk assumptions we make when we look at Vestal practices and punishments. Samuel Ball Platner and Thomas Ashby, A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome, Wildfang, Robin Lorsch. Livy also says that the priestesshood of Vesta had its origins at Alba Longa. Cases of unchastity and its punishment were rare. An unchaste Vestal had to be buried alive as it was not permitted to spill the blood of a Vestal Virgin. The 11th century Byzantine historian George Kedrenos is the only extant source for the claim that prior to Priscus, the Roman King Numa Pompilius had instituted death by stoning for unchaste Vestal Virgins, and that it was Priscus who changed the punishment into that of live burial. One wonders if carnal indulgences were merely a pretext to purge Aemilia, Licinia, and Marcia for the wrong politics. 125, No. Read about the ancient Vestal order in BRIDES OF ROME: A NOVEL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS and watch the book trailer here. Because a Vestal’s virginity was thought to be directly correlated to the sacred burning of the fire, if the fire were extinguished it might be assumed that either the Vestal had acted wrongly or that the vestal had simply neglected her duties. What if I tell you about this cult of priestesses who were held in high regard throughout Rome but were always on the edge of being scourged to death or buried alive. The life of Claudia the Vestal Virgin, as portrayed in Roman Women, a collection edited by Augusto Fraschetti and the story by John Scheid, largely focuses on the roles of women in society. In this way, the Vestal Virgin was not buried alive but was simply sent to a room with some provisions, where she would die a natural death. Suspicions first arose against Minucia through an improper love of dress and the evidence of a slave. In antiquity, her fire burned in Roman homes as well as in the ⦠But back to the punishment of being buried alive. But whipping with rods sometimes preceded the immuration as was done to Urbinia in 471 BC. Laura Knight-Jadczyk In fact, that was one of the motivations for writing BRIDES OF ROME: A NOVEL OF THE VESTAL VIRGINS (although it's a page-turner even if you're just reading for fun). Aemilia (d. 114 BC), Marcia (d. 114 BC), and Licinia (d. 114 - 113 BC), accused of multiple acts of incestum (violations of their vows of chastity). They were given enough food, water and light to last a few days. After all, the more Vesta approved of them, the more likely it was that she would continue to guard Rome and her people. Emperor Domitian sent the chief Vestal, Cornelia, to be buried alive on a charge of breaking her vows of virginity, but didnât allow her to defend herself. You can't shed the blood of a Vestal Virgin without angering the gods. This absolved the Roman people of guilt for their death. When they entered the collegium, they left behind the authority of their fathers and became daughters of the state. Was this fledgling feminism? It has been suggested that Vestals were used as scapegoats in times of great crisis. Because Vesta is a virgin goddess, virgin girls were selected as priestesses. Who can blame people for going there? The following is a description of the ancient Roman style of ⦠The punishment for violating the oath of celibacy was immurement, to be buried alive in the Campus Sceleratus ("Evil Field") in an underground chamber near the Colline Gate supplied with a ⦠It is thought she converted to Christianity before her death. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestal_Virg... Editorial comment by Laura Knight-Jadczyk. Another misconception is that being buried alive was a common occurrence. He would be flogged and publically executed. It has been suggested that Vestals were used as scapegoats in times of great crisis. Visit NewVesta.com for more info. They were influential in the political sphere and were venerated by society at large. This article is by no means an exhaustive look at the Vestal Order. According to historian Suetonius, his ârather degraded youthâ was spent in poverty. These eruptions of rage against women reveal a profound fear at the core of Roman society. Marcia, who was accused of only one offence, and Licinia, who was accused of many, were at first acquitted by the pontifices, but were retried by the praetor and jurist Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla (consul 127 BC), and condemned to death. The final decision was the responsibility of the Pontifex Maximus, or the head of the pontifical college, as opposed to a judicial body. Beard, Mary, “The Sexual Status of Vestal Virgins,” The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. Pliny the Younger was convinced that Cornelia, who as Virgo Maxima was buried alive at the orders of emperor Domitian, was innocent of the charges of unchastity, and he describes how she sought to keep her dignity intact when she descended into the chamber: …when she was let down into the subterraneous chamber, and her robe had caught in descending, she turned round and gathered it up. Aemilia, Licinia and Marcia were Roman vestal Virgins, who were prosecuted for having broken the vow of chastity in a famous case in 115-113 BC. After all, the Vestal Order has always been a proud one that is able to both initiate and adapt to change. After this term was completed, they had liberty to leave the order. Vestals lived a life of luxury, privilege and relative independence. O Vesta, if I have always brought pure hands to your secret services, make it so now that with this sieve I shall be able to draw water from the Tiber and bring it to Your temple. The good girl Vestals were allowed to be buried within the 'Walls of Rome' (a very high honor). Although their number never exceeded six at a given time, the Vestal Virgins of Rome have been a focus of fascination for dozens of centuries. Dionysius also relates the belief that live burial was instituted by the Roman king Tarquinius Priscus, and inflicted this punishment on the priestess Pinaria. I suppose that is why Vestaâs fire continues to illuminate homes in the New World as it did in the Old World. It also granted them special favor to petition Vesta to protect Rome, particularly during times of crisis. Nor did the âsacrificeâ these women were making go unnoticed or unrewarded. According to Livy, Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus and Remus, had been forced to become a Vestal Virgin, and when she gave birth to the twins, it is stated that she was merely loaded down with chains and cast into prison, her babies put into the river. In 113, there was the above mentioned trial and execution (buried alive) of Vestal Virgins. 50 BC), admitted to the order in 80 BC, half-sister of Terentia (Cicero’s first wife), and a wife of Dolabella who later married her niece Tullia; she was probably mother of the later consul of that name. Legal Notice I donât think so. Not so. But none of their tombs have ever been discovered, they have found 1 ⦠(in short http://cof.quantumfuturegroup.org/events/5616. This database, Pliny the Younger was convinced that Cornelia, who as Virgo Maxima was buried alive at the orders of emperor Domitian, was innocent of the charges of unchastity, and he describes how she sought to keep her dignity intact when she descended into the chamber: Vestal Virgins, in Roman religion, six priestesses, representing the daughters of the royal house, who tended the state cult of Vesta, the goddess of the hearth.The cult is believed to date to the 7th century bc; like other non-Christian cults, it was banned in ad 394 by Theodosius I. However, this practice contradicted the Roman law that no person might be buried within the city. And in a way it was his avarice that absolved him from the charge of corrupting the Vestal, and he was acquitted by the judges. Was it motivated by misogyny? These Vestals took a thirty year vow of chaste service to the goddess. Indeed, there is evidence that the Vestal Order itself was challenging this as early as the 1st century CE. Stable URL: No one knows whether they were guilty or not. : If they lost their sacred virginity, they suffered the punishment of being buried alive. : ⦠While the Order of the Vestals was in existence for over one thousand years there are only ten recorded convictions for unchastity and these trials all took place at times of political crisis for the Roman state. Notes and Sources: Why didnât Rhea get buried alive, you ask? This put them in a state of purity that was deemed patently suitable to approach a virgin goddess. It was considered a sacrilege to kill a Vestal, so those who were found guilty of incestum (breaking their vow of chastity) were taken to the Campus Sceleratus or "evil field" just inside the city walls of Rome where they descended a ladder into a subterranean pit. Vesta, goddess of the home and hearth, is symbolized by and resides in her sacred fire. Moreover, the emperors of the early empire granted "Vestal privileges" to female family members, thus freeing them from the patria potestas. A Vestal who broke this vow was punished by being buried alive. A few years later, to general rejoicing, Emperor Caracalla was ⦠The QFG Historical Database is a research project undertaken by She was found guilty of unchastity and buried alive. Some think this act was a way for Domitian to make his reign illustrious. (They also got a loaf of bread in their tomb, not that that would be a great comfort.) Letâs be honest. Jumping back to ancient times, Roman women, like in any other patriarchal society were once only identified with the perceived role of nurturing, bearing children and perform homely duties. Or the Chastity of Women and the Safety of the Roman State”, American Journal of Philology, Vol. : The Vestal Virgins were those who tended the sacred fire at the temple of the goddess Vesta in Rome. 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