Vestāles
or
Virgĭnes Vestāles. Vestal Virgins; the
priestesses of Vesta. At Rome their number was at first four, but had already been increased
to six during the last years of the kings. Every girl possessing the necessary qualification
was liable to be called on to undertake the duty, and no exemption was granted, except upon
very strict conditions. The office was confined to girls of not less than six and not more
than ten years of age, without personal blemish, of free, respectable families, whose parents
were still alive and resident in Italy. The choice was made by lot out of a number of twenty,
nominated by the Pontifex. The virgin appointed to the priestly office immediately quitted her
father's authority and entered that of the goddess. After her inauguration by the Pontifex,
she was taken into the Atrium of Vesta, her future place of abode, was duly attired, and shorn
of her hair. The time of service was by law thirty years, ten of which were set apart for
learning, ten for performing, and ten for teaching the duties. At the end of this time leave
was granted to the Vestals to lay aside their priesthood, return into private life, and marry.
They seldom took advantage of this permission. They were under the control of the Pontifex,
who, in the name of the goddess, exercised over them paternal authority. He administered
corporal chastisement if they neglected their duties, more particularly if they allowed the
sacred fire to go out; and, if any one of them violated her vow of chas
tity, he had her carried on a bier to the Campus Sceleratus, near the Colline Gate, beaten
with rods, and immured alive. Her seducer was scourged to death. In fact, it has been noted
that the Vestals typified to the Romans womanly chastity, just as
flamen
and
flaminica typified the purity of the marriage-relation.
No man was allowed to enter the apartments of the Vestals. Their service consisted in
maintain
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Vestal Virgin.
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ing and keeping pure the eternal fire in the Temple of Vesta, watching the sacred
shrines, performing the sacrifices, offering the daily and, when necessary, the special
prayers for the welfare of the nation, and taking part in the feasts of Vesta, Tellus, and
Bona Dea. They were dressed entirely in white, with a coronetshaped head-band (
infula), and ornamented with ribbons (
vittae) suspended from it,
and at a sacrifice covered with a white veil or hood (
suffibulum) made of
a piece of white woollen cloth with a purple border, rectangular in form. It was folded over
the head and fastened in front below the throat by a
fibula (Festus, p.
340, ed. Müller). The chief part in the sacrifices was taken by the eldest, the Virgo
Vestalis Maxima.
The Vestal Virgins enjoyed various distinctions and privileges. When they went out, they
were accompanied by a lictor, to whom even the consul gave place; at public games they had a
place of honour; they were under a guardian, and were free to dispose of their property; they
gave evidence without the customary oath; they were, on account of their incorruptible
character, intrusted with important wills and public treaties; death was the penalty for
injuring their person; those whom they escorted were thereby protected from any assault. To
meet them by chance saved the criminal who was being led away to punishment; and to them, as
to men of distinguished merit, was assigned the honour of burial in the Forum. See the works
cited under
Vesta.