Everything Everywhere Daily: History, Science, Geography & More - The Vestal Virgins

Episode Date: April 1, 2024

One of the most important gods in the Roman pantheon was the goddess Vesta.  Vesta was the goddess of the hearth and home, and her temple was one of the most important in ancient Rome. It was attended by six women who were some of the most important in all of Roman society. They were given privileges that few in Rome were allowed, but it also came at a very steep price. Learn more about the Vestal Virgins, the cult of Vesta, and its role in Roman society on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily. Sponsors Available nationally, look for a bottle of Heaven Hill Bottled-in-Bond at your local store. Find out more at heavenhilldistillery.com/hh-bottled-in-bond.php Sign up today at butcherbox.com/daily and use code daily to choose your free offer and get $20 off. Visit BetterHelp.com/everywhere today to get 10% off your first month. Use the code EverythingEverywhere for a 20% discount on a subscription at Newspapers.com. Subscribe to the podcast!  https://link.chtbl.com/EverythingEverywhere?sid=ShowNotes -------------------------------- Executive Producer: Charles Daniel Associate Producers: Benji Long & Cameron Kieffer   Become a supporter on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/everythingeverywhere Update your podcast app at newpodcastapps.com Discord Server: https://discord.gg/UkRUJFh Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/everythingeverywhere/ Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/everythingeverywheredaily Twitter: https://twitter.com/everywheretrip Website: https://everything-everywhere.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most important gods in the Roman pantheon was the goddess Vesta. Vesta was the goddess of hearth and home, and her temple was one of the most important in ancient Rome. It was attended to by six women who were some of the most important in all of Roman society. They were given privileges that few women in Rome were allowed, but it also came at a very steep price. Learn more about the Vestal virgins, the cult of Vesta, and its role in Roman society. On this episode, of everything everywhere daily. What if your perceptions about the past were wrong? ThruLine is a podcast that takes you back in time to uncover the parts of the story

that may have gone unnoticed. It effectively turned day into night. And how it shaped the world now. Time travel with us every week on the ThruLine podcast from NPR. Roman religious practices were extremely complicated. They had a hope. of gods, major and minor, ranging from their primary deity Jupiter down to individual household gods. They had an elaborate calendar with all sorts of religious festivals scattered throughout the year

and certain religious practices that we would consider to be quite bizarre. However, there were some common themes that were found throughout many of their practices. Their gods usually required some form of sacrifice as the primary method of worship. And a sacrifice could be anything from killing a bowl to offering up some bread and salt. Most of the gods also had some form of human personification in the form of statues. In the temple of Jupiter, for example, there would be a giant statue of Jupiter. However, there was one god in the Roman pantheon that didn't have a human personification, Vesta. Vesta was the goddess of hearth, home, and family. She held a central role in the Roman religious system as a member

of the DeConsentis. The DeConsentis was a collection of the 12 major deities in the Roman pantheon, and it consisted of six gods and six goddesses. In the Roman family tree of gods, Vesta was the daughter of Saturn and Opus, and the sister of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, and series. Instead of a statue, Vesta was personified by fire, which symbolized the hearth that was found in every Roman home. Vesta also didn't have stories about her that other gods.

and goddesses in the Pantheon had. The worship of Vesta in Rome was centered around the temple of Vesta, which was located in the Roman form. The centerpiece of the Temple of Vesta was Vesta's sacred fire. The fire was a symbol of Rome's life and was believed to ensure its security and prosperity. As long as the fire burned, Rome would be protected from harm. The fire in the temple were attended to by a group of six priestesses, known as the Vestal virgins. The Vestal Virgins held a special role in Roman society. The legendary founders of Rome, Romulus and Riemus, were supposedly the children of a Vestal Virgin named Rea Silvia and the god Mars.

The temple of Vesta and the cult of Vesta were supposedly created by the second king of Rome, Numa Pompilius. He established the Vesta priesthood as a pair of priestesses, and this was later expanded to four by the sixth king, Servius Tullius, and then it was later expanded to. to six. The primary mission of the Vestal Virgins was to keep Vesta's sacred flame lit at all times. The flame could never go out. 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the flame had to burn. The temple of Vesta was not very large, so anyone could tell if there was smoke coming out of the temple at any time. However, just keeping the fire lit was only a small part of what it meant to be a

vestal virgin. The six vestal versions were selected from upper-class patrician families. A list of potential candidates included young girls from the age of six to ten. The candidates had to be free of physical and mental defects. During the Republican period, the Pontifax Maximus, the high priest of Rome, would select who would serve as a vestal by choosing a name at random from a list of 20. Being selected as a vestal virgin was considered a great honor by some families and was something to be something. to be avoided by others. On the one hand, being a Vestal was highly prestigious. However, the prestigious position came at a very high cost. Being a Vestal version was a 30-year commitment. During that time, they had to take a vow of chastity because only pure women were allowed to tend the sacred fire

of Vesta. That meant no possibility of marriage or children for any woman selected until at least the age of 36 to 40. This is why, some families did not want their daughters to become Vestals. It all but eliminated the possibility of grandchildren and alliances with other families. The 30-year period was divided into three 10-year periods. During the first 10 years, A Vestal was an apprentice, learning the rituals. During the second 10 years, you were expected to perform the duties that you learned, and during the final 10 years, you served as a mentor to the new Vestals. These two commitments, keeping the fire lit and remaining chaste, were taken very seriously. If one of the Vestals were to allow the fire to die,

they were severely punished. The Romans believe that so long as the fire was out, the city was in danger. It had to be relit via a ceremonial process with pure materials. If the fire were extinguished, it wasn't always blamed on a Vestal. Sometimes it was simply considered to be the will of the gods, but if it was found that a Vestal was responsible, she would be severely beaten. However, that was nothing compared to the penalty for breaking their vow of chastity. If it was found that they broke their vow and had a relationship with a man, they would be entombed alive in an underground chamber, as it wasn't permitted to spill their blood. They would have limited food, water, and a lamp, and after being entombed, they would eventually die from hunger,

thirst, or suffocation. That punishment rarely happened because the threat of it was always hanging over the heads of the Vestals. And lest you think that the men involved with the Vestal would have gotten off Scott Free, their punishment was to be beaten to death at the hands of the Pontifex Maximus. While these punishments seemed severe, and they were, there were also significant benefits bestowed upon the Vestals. For starters, the Vestals were completely emancipated from their fathers, aka the Potra Familius. They were given the status of person. Sury Urius, or they were given sovereignty over themselves. In modern language, they were emancipated women.

They answered to no one but the senior Vestal, the Vestilus Maxima, and the Pontifex Maximus. Because of this status, they were given privileges that no other women in Rome had. They could own property, and they could give it to other women in their will, which was otherwise forbidden. The person of a Vestal was considered sacrosanct. No one could touch them, and they had the same privileges in this respect as the consul, the highest position in Rome. When they traveled in Rome, they were attended by a bodyguard known as a Lictor, who had carried with them a bundle of sticks known as a Fassies.

They were also allowed to ride in a two-wheeled chariot, which was similar to how generals would ride through Rome in a Roman triumph. When women attended games at the Coliseum, they usually had to sit in the most distant steeds near the top of the stands. The Vestals, however, had the best seats in the house and would sit in the very first row. If someone condemned to death were to see a Vestal on their way to their execution, they would be pardoned. All of the Vestals lived together in the house of the Vestals, which was not far from the Temple of Vesta. Their daily activity centered around the temple, usually tending the fire and shifts and performing ritual cleaning.

They also prepared a substance known as Mola Salsa, which was a grain, mixed with salt. Molas also was used in all Roman temples for sacrifices. There was another important function that the vessels conducted. They served as a type of safe deposit vault and notary public. They were given custody of the wills of Roman citizens and other important state documents. This included the Sibeline books, the prophetic books, which I covered in a previous episode. Their function as keeper of wills played an important part in the civil war between Octavian and Mark Antony. Octavian managed to get a hold of Mark Anthony's will, which was filed in the Temple of Vesta. In addition to important documents,

they also had possession of some of Rome's most important artifacts. The most important artifact was the statue of Pallas Athene, which was believed to have come from the city of Troy. The vessels were also responsible for conducting religious festivities, including Vestalia, which took place in June, and Lupercalia in February. There were many cases throughout history that involved Vestals being involved in controversy. One of the most famous involved Marcus Licinius Crassus, one of the members of the First Triumvirate and the wealthiest man in Rome. He was accused of having a relationship with a Vestal by the name of Lincinnia. However, after an investigation, it was found that the attention he gave to Lincinnia wasn't due to lust, but rather greed.

She happened to own a villa outside of Rome that he wanted to purchase, so he hounded her to get her to it. The 18-year-old Emperor Ella Gabalus married a sitting Vestal virgin by the name of Aquila Severa, which caused such outrage that it probably was one of the things that led to his assassination. At the end of a Vestal's 30-year term, they were free to leave the temple and get married. Many of them did, and it was considered a great honor to be married to a Vestal. However, many Vestals also stayed on when their term was up. Most famous was a Vestal by the name of Akiah, who serve 57 years between the years 38 BC and 19. After spending almost their entire life at the Temple of Vesta, many women found it hard to leave and start a new life. As with all the temples in

the Roman religion, they were eventually replaced by Christianity. As the empire became more Christian, successive emperors closed all the Roman temples. The Temple of Vesta, however, was one of the very last temples dedicated to the Roman gods to survive. The Temple of the Temple of Vesta was finally closed in the year 394 by the Christian Emperor Theodosius. The very last Vestal Virgin was named Coelia Concordia. By all accounts, when the temple was closed and the fire permanently extinguished, Coelia Concordia was an old woman and was the only Vestal left. The actual temple of Vesta actually survived intact well into the Renaissance, so we know more about it than many of the other ancient buildings in Rome. There were many drawings of the structure

that were made which allowed us to understand how the building looked and was built. It wasn't until the 16th century that the temple was torn down to be used as building materials for various churches in Rome. The Vestal virgins and the Temple of Vesta were among the most important institutions in ancient Rome. To become a Vestal was a great honor that came with many privileges, but it also came at a great cost. It required giving up at least 30 years of your life, as well as the risk of possible death if you ever violated your vows.

The executive producer of Everything Everywhere Daily is Charles Daniel. The associate producers are Ben Long and Cameron Kiefer. Today's review comes from listener MJ91E6 from Apple Podcasts in the United States. They write, Possibly the Greatest Podcast. I'm so happy to have stumbled on to this podcast.

The variety of topics, length of episodes, and great narration, makes this a perfect podcast to learn tidbits of everything. Highly recommend a follow. Well, thanks, MJ. I don't know if it's the greatest podcast, but I certainly do appreciate your review. Remember that if you leave a review or send me a boostagram, you too can have it read on the show.