The Vestal Virgins Sunday, 15 November 2020, 9:33 PM by Rhiannon Watts-robinson https://lifeasadiabeticstudent.wordpress.com/2020/11/15/the-vestal-virgins/ NB This blog is targeting individuals interested in women in the ancient world This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is vestal-virgins.jpg Temple of the Vestal Virgins, http://www.reidsitaly.com/places/rome/see/roman-forum/forum-temple-of-vesta-house-of-vestal-virgins/ The vestal virgins were priestesses sacred to the goddess Vesta. The girls who were chosen for this priesthood were sworn in for 30 years (Biggi, 2018). At the end of their 30 years they were free to marry and have children. Many of them, however, did not choose this (Mark, 2009). Plutarch wrote: “their change was not a happy one, but accompanied ever after with regret and melancholy” (Plut. Lives, vol.1). From this it can be understood that many of the vestal virgins prefered their lives in the priesthood. It gave the women who were part of the priesthood more opportunities and freedoms than the women outside of it. Roman laws show that women were categorised as a certain group within legal writings that often excluded them, they were alongside children and slaves to show they were in-eligible to take legal actions (Packman, 1994). However, unlike the average woman within Roman society, vestal virgins had more rights and personal freedoms. The vestal virgins were pretty much the only women within Roman society that were not under the power of a man. This raises the question, were the vestal virgins a “special category” of women in the eyes of Roman society? They were in a different position to others within society as they held an important position within Roman religion. Since they were the only cult run by women (Biggi, 2018) this could explain why, out of all Roman women, they were held in a higher regard. The vestal virgins were an essential part of the state cult, with their place of worship being housed in the forum (Biggi, 2018). The main role of the vestal virgins was to care for the fire of Vesta (DiGrado, 2005). This fire represented the heart of Rome and its empire. Therefore, by keeping the fire burning, the vestal virgins were keeping the heart and the idea of Rome alive. This would be important as the visual representation of the flaming heart of Rome would show the power that lay within both the city and the empire. Caring for and guarding this flame would make the vestal virgins very important to the wellbeing of Roman society. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is vv.jpg Vestal Virgins fresco, https://www.grunge.com/253430/what-it-was-really-like-to-be-a-vestal-virgin/ It is not possible to look into the vestal virgins without the concepts of virginity and chastity coming up. These concepts have been the main focus of research surrounding the vestal virgins for a while, and with good reason, as can be seen with their name. There is a lot of discussion as to why the concept of virginity is important at all within the priesthood. It has been suggested that the vestals had to be virgins since they were representatives of Rome, and by extension embodying Vesta (whole also represented Rome) (Parker, 2004). This idea behind this is that the priestesses had to uphold a vision of purity in who they were. This purity was used as a sign of moral good within Roman society. Since the vestal virgins were part of an ancient world it would be inappropriate to discuss these ideas with modern ideas of chastity. The understanding of these concepts in the modern day understands the ideas of virginity and chastity to be essentially one and the same. However, from looking at the vestal virgins it can be seen that virginity was not necessarily about not having sex but more about the purity of the women. These priestesses would have been chaste since entering the priesthood, showing where the confusion between virginity and chastity may have come from. However, this confusion stems from the modern understanding and would not have been an issue within the ancient world where they had their own interpretation of these concepts. This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is vv3.jpg Vestal Virgins fresco, https://www.pinterest.co.uk/magistramichaud/vestal-virgins/ From these different ideas that have been presented it could be seen that the modern day focus on the virginity of the vestals could have been rooted in the importance it held for their position in Roman society. Although the views and ideas about their virginity and its importance have changed since Roman times, it is what brings interest to them and encourages more to be discovered about the lives that they lived. Bibliography Biggi, E. (2018) Rome’s Vestal Virgins: Protectors Of The Cities Sacred Flame, Available at: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/magazine/2018/11-12/vestal-virgins-of-ancient-rome/ (accessed: 13/11/2020) DiGrado, E. (2005) Vestal Virgins, Available at: https://departments.kings.edu/womens_history/vestals.html (Accessed: 13/11/2020) Mark, J. (2009) Vestal Virgin, Available at: https://www.ancient.eu/Vestal_Virgin/ (Accessed: 13/11/2020) Packman, Z. (1994) "Undesirable Company : The Categorisation of Women in Roman Law : University of Natal Inaugural Address." 3, pp. 275-106. Parker, H. (2004) ‘Why Were the Vestals Virgins? Or the Chastity of Women and the Safety of the Roman State’, The American Journal of Philology, 125 (4), pp. 563-601 Plutarch, Lives: Volume 1. A.H.Clough. (trans.) 2001. New York: Modern Library.