Roman Civilization

CMS 206 /History 206

• The Romans dedicated the month of June (as well as the first day of every month) to the goddess Juno. Her connections with the month, however, are not as striking as for example those between Mars and March. Juno was identified as the Latin version of Hera, consort of Zeus (or in the Roman case, Jupiter) and the Etruscan goddess Uni, and typically identified as a patron of women (particularly with respect to their fertility). Nevertheless, Romans thought that the first two weeks of June (and the last two weeks of May) were particularly unlucky days on which to wed. This may have nothing to do with Juno, in that all the days between the 7th and 15th of the month were dies religiosi, and no one in their right mind would marry on such a day. She was characterized by Virgil, in the Aeneid, as the patronness of the Greeks and the implacable (and fearsomely so) enemy of Troy, its refugees and their effort to found Rome. She got reconciled by the end of the poem and became the implacable patronness of Rome.
  
  
• On June 9 (N - five days before the Ides), Romans celebrated the Vestalia. Vesta, was the goddess of the hearth (associated with the Greek goddess of the hearth, Hestia) and Romans worshipped her privately in their homes and publicly in state festivals like the Vestalia (cf. the public and private worship of the Lares). Interestingly enough, Romans did not portray Vesta, at her altar, in statuary. The flame of the hearth, instead, symbolized her presence. [They did portray both Vesta and Vestals elsewhere (e.g., a row of statues outside the House of the Vestals). At home, the Roman family gathered once a day to offer Vesta a sacrifice.
  
  
• There were several public rituals in which Romans honored Vesta as well. The Temple of Vesta was located in a small round building in the Forum (which thus served as the hearth of the Roman community). Technically speaking , the building was not a "temple," but a "house." Romans believed the fire should never go out. A priestess-hood of specially chosen women (all virgins) were devoted to Vesta and supervised her worship (and the flame of her hearth). Romans called these women the Vestal Virgins. It seems that this group was created to fulfill the religious duties that, according to Plutarch's life of Numa, the daughters of Roman kings had performed under the monarchy. If the Vestal Virgins let the fire go out, they had to rekindle it by rubbing twigs together. Then they were whipped by the Pontifex Maximus, for their failure to attend the hearth.
  
  
• To be a Vestal you had to be a) patrician; b) between the ages of 6 and 10; and c) a virgin, according to Aulus Gellius. Vestals served for 30 year terms, during which they had to retain their virginity. If they didn't, the Romans buried them alive. The Pontifex Maximus was charged with supervision of the Vestal Virgins. The oldest member of the group was called the Chief Vestal. Vestal Virgins lived in a house called the Atrium Vestae near the Forum Romanum (it was connected to the Temple) and the cost of their upkeep was paid from the public treasury. After 30 years, a Vestal could, if she chose, take a nice dowry, retire and even marry. She could, however, also choose to remain a priestess. Most, apparently, remained priestesses. Vestal Virgins enjoyed great respect from Romans of every station (think of the way most folks think of nuns, for example), and in fact, wielded some political influence behind the scenes. No senator, for example, would lightly ignore the request of a Vestal to help someone out. Originally, there were four Vestals Virgins. During the monarchical era, the number was later increased to six. One a Vestal died or retired, the Pontifex Maximus chose another to take her place. In doing so he used words similar to those Roman men used when making a formal marriage offer (tu, amata, capio - you, my beloved, I take). On becoming a priestess, a Vestal Virgin was legally emancipated from her father's authority. She could not, therefore, inherit as an intestate survivor of a member of her family of birth.
  
  
• The Temple of Vesta contained a number of objects the Romans believed were particuarly precious: the Palladium (a statue of Athena rescued from Troy by Aeneas, who assured the ongoing safety of Rome), two statues of the Penates of the Roman people (like Lares, the di penates, were protectors of the Roman household), and ashes (of unborn calves sacrificed on the Fordicidia which were mixed with the blood of a victorious horse from chariot races in honor of Jove, which had been sacrificed the previous October, and thrown on burning bean-straws over which shepards jumped,on the feast of the Parilia, an agricultural feast, celebrated on the anniversary of Rome's foundation, in honor of deities so mysterious Romans were not even sure of their gender [a kind of May Day celebration]). Additionally, the Temple of Vesta included a curtained inner sanctuary called the penus (a Roman word meaning "inner storeroom or recess" which is etymological linked to penates - the gods of the household storeroom). No one knows what was contained in the penus.
  
  
• On March 1, the Vestal Virgins ceremoniously rekindled the fire in Vesta's hearth by starting a flame by rubbing twigs together. When the flame took, they carried the tinder in a bonze sieve to the hearth, where they deposited it.
  
• According to Plutarch, Numa also instituted 27 shrines (sacraria) said to belong the Agrei (why "Agrei" is uncertain, perhaps 'Argives," ). On March 16-17, according to Ovid, Romans processed to the shrines of the Agrei. The Agrei were straw, human shaped figures. Unfortunately, Ovid didn't bother to tell us what folks actually did at the shrines. Some speculate that the straw figures were deposited at the shrines in the March rite. On May 14th (according to Ovid, May 15th according to Dionysius of Halicarnassus), however, Romans performed another rite (purificatory in nature) involving the Agrei and the Vestals, about which we know more.
  
  
• On the morning of the feast, the Vestal Virgins, Pontifex Maximus and Roman magistrates made a preliminary sacrifice. They then proceeded (perhaps stopping at the shrines of the Agrei) to the Sublician Bridge (which crossed the Tiber). In this procession walked the flaminica, the wife of the flamen Dialis (a priest devoted to Jupiter, who wore archaic dress and who was quite limited in the activities in the public activities in which he could partake - although these limitations didn't seem to restrict Julius Ceasar much, who served as a flamen Dialis) dressed as though she were in mourning. When they reached the bridge, the Vestals were presented with the Agrei (numbering either 27 or 30), which they then threw into the Tiber.
  
  
• The Romans themselves did not know what god they worshipped by this ceremony or why the ritual included the elements that it did. Some Romans thought that the May ritual recalled a time of human sacrifice in Rome (an expression, "you're over the bridge when you're sixty," was a common adage). Modern scholars, however, find little evidence (and most of it in exceptional times) of human sacrifice in Rome's history or religious tradition. Could the ritual have been designed to appease the river god, Tiber, who must have been offended by the Roman temerity in actually building bridges (Romans believed that the title "Pontifex Maximus," literally meant "greatest bridge builder). Romans themselves debated between Saturn and Dis Pater, as the recipient of the sacrifice, however. Or perhaps there was a fertility element (attendance of the Vestals). Nor should it be forgotten that the Argeis followed closely on the Lemuria (May 9, 11 and 13), with which it shared some features.
  
  
• In order to celebrate the Vestalia in June, the Vestals made mola salsa (holy cake). To do this they walked to a sacred spring to fetch water. They carried the water in special jugs with a base designed to tip the jug over if it was set down. The water for the mola salsa could never come in contact with the earth. The salt used to make the was also prepared in a ritual fashion. Brine was pounded then baked in a jar until it formed a rock so hard that the Vestals had to use an iron saw to cut it. The grain used for the cakes came from ears of spelt gathered on the 7th, 9th and 11th of May. From these ingredients the Vestals made the mola salsa which were then offered to Vesta. The Vestalia continued for 8 days, during which women could enter the temple to worship. They appear to have dressed simply and to take off their shoes before they entered it. The offerings they brought to Vesta were probably platters of ordinary (i.e., not fancy) food.
  
  
• On June 15th, the Vestal Virgins ceremoniously cleaned their house. They swept the floors clean and the dust was carried to the Tiber where it was dumped. They then closed the doors of the temple and it became lawful to again transact public business. According to Ovid, this day became a holiday for bakers and millers. They hung garlands of violets and small loves of bread from their millstones and the asses that turned them.
  

Maecenas pix of House of Vestals / Temple of Vesta (pix and desc) /

Temple of Vesta and environs (pix and desc) / Temple of Vesta (pix and desc)

short encylopaedia re Vesta / short encylo on V Vs

Encyclopedia Britannica on Vestal Virgins / Encyclopedia Britannica on Vesta

Lecture outline on Vestals

The augurs act indicated that the building was deemed sacred by the will of the gods. An "aedes" was a building that had been consecrated only by a pontiff (who could not, as augurs did, guarantee that it had been sanctioned by the will of the gods). Most buildings of the Roman state religion were aedes, but they usually stood on a site that an augur had designated as a templum. Originally, the word aedes only meant "hearth." In addition to meaning hearth, and a place to worship a god, the term was also frequently used to refer to an ordinary "house," or apartment.

return to lecture text / return to week 8 lecture on prayer

M. Beard, "Re-reading (Vestal) Virginity," in Women in Antiquity: New Assessments edited by R. Hawley and B.Levick: Routledge (1995)