Coin issued underNero: the reverse depicts the cult statue of Vesta, holding apatera andscepter, within herhexastyle temple.
Vesta (Classical Latin:[ˈwɛs.ta]) is thevirgin goddess of thehearth,home, andfamily inRoman religion. She was rarely depicted in human form, and was more often represented by the fire of her temple in theForum Romanum. Entry to her temple was permitted only to her priestesses, theVestal Virgins. Their virginity was deemed essential to Rome's survival; if found guilty of inchastity, they wereburied or entombed alive. As Vesta was considered a guardian of the Roman people, her festival, theVestalia (7–15 June), was regarded as one of the most important Roman holidays.[1] During theVestalia privileged matrons walked barefoot through the city to the temple, where they presented food-offerings. Such was Vesta's importance to Roman religion that following the rise ofChristianity, hers was one of the last non-Christian cults still active, until it was forcibly disbanded by the Christian emperorTheodosius I in AD 391.
The myths depicting Vesta and her priestesses were few; the most notable of them were tales of miraculous impregnation of a virgin priestess by a phallus appearing in the flames of the sacred hearth — the manifestation of the goddess combined with a male supernatural being. In some Roman traditions, Rome's foundersRomulus and Remus and the benevolent kingServius Tullius were conceived in this way.[2] Vesta was among theDii Consentes, twelve of the most honored gods in the Roman pantheon.[3] She was the daughter ofSaturn andOps, and sister ofJupiter,Neptune,Pluto,Juno, andCeres. Her Greek equivalent isHestia.[4]
Ovid derived Vesta from Latinvi stando – "standing by power".Cicero supposed that the Latin nameVesta derives from its Greek counterpart,Hestia, whichCornutus claimed to have derived from Greekhestanai dia pantos ("standing for ever"). This etymology is offered byServius as well.[5] Another proposed etymology is that Vesta derives from Latinvestio ("clothe"), as well as from Greekἑστία (hestia, "hearth" =focus urbis).[6] None, except perhaps the last, are probable.
Georges Dumézil (1898–1986), a French comparative philologist, surmised that the name of the goddess derives fromProto-Indo-European root*h₁eu-, via the derivative form*h₁eu-s- which alternates with*h₁w-es-.[7][8] The former is found in Greekεὕεινheuein, Latinurit,ustio and Vedicosathi all conveying 'burning' and the second is found inVesta. (Beekes considers the Greek goddess-name ἙστίαHestia is probably unrelated.[9]) See alsoGallicCelticvisc "fire."
Poultney suggests that Vesta may be related to theUmbrian godUestisier (gen.)/Vestiçe (dat.) (as ifLatin *Vesticius), itself related to Umbrian terms for 'libation'uestisiar (gen.sg.), 'pour a libation'uesticatu (imv.) from *westikia and *westikato:d respectively. Perhaps also related toOscanVeskeí from theOscan Tablet also known as the Agnone Dedication.[10]
According to tradition, worship of Vesta in Italy began inLavinium, the mother-city ofAlba Longa and the first settlement by the Trojan refugees after their flight from Troy's destruction, led there byAeneas and guided byVenus. It was believed that from Lavinium, the worship of Vesta was transferred to Alba Longa, a belief evident in the custom of Roman magistrates going to Lavinium, when appointed to higher office, and offering sacrifice both to Vesta and thehousehold gods of the Roman state known asPenates, whose images were kept in Vesta's temple. Alongside those household gods was Vesta, whom the Roman poet refers to asVesta Iliaca ("Vesta ofIlium/Troy").[11] Vesta's sacred hearth was also namedIliaci foci ("hearth ofIlium/Troy").[12]
Worship of Vesta, like the worship of many gods, originated in the home, but in Roman historical tradition, it became an established cult of state during the reign of eitherRomulus,[13] orNuma Pompilius[14] (sources disagree, but most say Numa).[15] The priestesses of Vesta, known asVestal Virgins, administered her temple and sustained its sacred fire. The existence of Vestal Virgins in Alba Longa is connected with early Roman traditions, for the mother of Romulus and Remus,Rhea Silvia, was a priestess of Vesta, impregnated by eitherMars orHercules.[16]
Roman tradition required that the leading priest of the Roman state, thepontifex maximus reside in adomus publicus ("publicly owned house"). After assuming the office ofpontifex maximus in 12 BC,Augustus gave part of his private house to the Vestals as public property and incorporated a new shrine of Vesta within it. The old shrine remained in theForum Romanum's temple of Vesta, but Augustus' gift linked the public hearth of the state with the official home of thepontifex maximus and the emperor'sPalatine residence. This strengthened the connection between the office ofpontifex maximus and the cult of Vesta. Henceforth, the office ofpontifex maximus was tied to the title of emperor;[17][18] Emperors were automatically priests of Vesta, and thepontifices were sometimes referred to aspontifices Vestae ("priests of Vesta").[19] In 12 BC, 28 April (first of the five dayFloralia) was chosenexsenatus consultum to commemorate the new shrine of Vesta in Augustus' home on the Palatine.[20][21] The latter's hearth was the focus of the Imperial household's traditional religious observances. Various emperors led official revivals and promotions of the Vestals' cult, which in its various locations remained central to Rome's ancient traditional cults into the 4th century. Dedications in the Atrium of Vesta, dating predominantly AD 200 to 300, attest to the service of severalVirgines Vestales Maxime.[22] Vesta's worship began to decline with the rise ofChristianity. In ca. 379,Gratian stepped down aspontifex maximus;[17] in 382 he confiscated theAtrium Vestae[15] and simultaneously withdrew its public funding.[22] In 391, despite official and public protests,Theodosius I closed the temple, and extinguished the sacred flame.[23] Finally,Coelia Concordia stepped down as the lastVestalis Maxima ("chief Vestal") in 394.[24]
Denarius of 60 BC; veiled and draped Vesta on the left, with alamp next to her.
Depicted as a good-mannered deity who never involved herself in the quarreling of other gods, Vesta was ambiguous at times due to her contradictory association with the phallus.[25] She is considered the embodiment of the "Phallic Mother" by proponents of 20th Centurypsychoanalysis: she was not only the most virgin and clean of all the gods, but was addressed as mother and granted fertility.[clarification needed] Mythographers tell us that Vesta had no myths save being identified as one of the oldest of the gods who was entitled to preference in veneration and offerings over all other gods. Unlike most gods, Vesta was hardly depicted directly; nonetheless, she was symbolized by her flame, the fire stick, and a ritual phallus (thefascinus).[2]
While Vesta was the flame itself, the symbol of the phallus might relate to Vesta's function in fertility cults, but it maybe also invoked the goddess herself due to its relation to the fire stick used to light the sacred flame. She was sometimes thought of as a personification of the fire stick which was inserted into a hollow piece of wood and rotated – in a phallic manner – to light her flame.[26]
Concerning the status of Vesta's hearth,Dionysius of Halicarnassus had this to say: "And they regard the fire as consecrated to Vesta, because that goddess, being the Earth and occupying the central position in the universe, kindles the celestial fires from herself."[27] Ovid agreed, saying: "Vesta is the same as the earth; both have the perennial fire: the Earth and the sacred Fire are both symbolic of home."[28] The sacred flames of the hearth were believed to be indispensable for the preservation and continuity of the Roman State:Cicero states it explicitly. The purity of the flames symbolised the vital force that is the root of the life of the community. It was also because the virgins' ritual concern extended to the agricultural cycle and ensured a good harvest that Vesta enjoyed the title ofMater ("Mother").[29]
The fecundating power of sacred fire is testified to inPlutarch's version of the birth ofRomulus andRemus,[30] in the birth of kingServius Tullius,[31] whose mother Ocresia becomes pregnant after sitting upon aphallus that appeared among the ashes of the ara of the godVulcanus by order ofTanaquil wife of kingTarquinius Priscus, and in the birth ofCaeculus, the founder ofPraeneste, who had the power to kindle or extinguish fires at will.[32] All these mythical or semi-legendary characters show a mystical mastery of fire. Servius's hair was kindled by his father without hurting him, and even his statue in the temple ofFortuna Primigenia was unharmed by fire after his assassination.[33]
Vesta was connected toliminality, and thelimen ("threshold") was sacred to her: brides were careful not to step on it, else they commit sacrilege by kicking a sacred object.[34]Servius explains that it would be poor judgement for a virgin bride to kick an object sacred to Vesta, a goddess who holds chastity sacred.[35] On the other hand, it might merely have been because Romans considered it bad luck to trample any object sacred to the gods.[36] InPlautus'Casina, the bride Casina is cautioned to lift her feet carefully over the threshold following her wedding so she would have the upper hand in her marriage.[37] Likewise,Catullus cautions a bride to keep her feet over the threshold "with a good omen".[38][39][40] It is possible that the concern that brides not touch the threshold (limen) with their feet may be the source of the tradition of a husband carrying his new bride across the threshold when entering their new home following their marriage.
In Roman belief, Vesta was present in all weddings, and so wasJanus: Vesta was the threshold and Janus the doorway. Similarly, Vesta and Janus were invoked in every sacrifice. It has been noted that because they were invoked so often, the evocation of the two came to simply mean, "to pray".[41] In addition, Vesta was present with Janus in all sacrifices as well.[42][43] It has also been noted that neither of them were consistently illustrated as human. This has been suggested as evidence of their ancient Italic origin, because neither of them was "fully anthropomorphized"[44][40]
Counted among the agricultural deities, Vesta has been linked to the deitiesTellus andTerra in separate accounts. InAntiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum, Varro links Vesta to Tellus. He says: "They think Tellus... is Vesta, because she is 'vested' in flowers".[45]Verrius Flaccus, however, had identified Vesta with Terra.[46] Ovid hints at Vesta's connection to both of the deities.[47]
Where the majority of temples would have a statue, that of Vesta had a hearth. The fire was a religious center of Roman worship, the common hearth (focus publicus) of the whole Roman people.[48] The Vestals were obliged to keep the sacred fire alight. If the fire went out, it must be lit from anarbor felix ("auspicious tree", probably an oak).[49] Water was not allowed into the inneraedes nor could it remain longer than strictly necessary in or on the nearby premises. It was carried by the Vestales in vessels calledfutiles which had a tiny foot that made them unstable.[50]
The temple of Vesta held not only theignes aeternum ("sacred fire"), but thePalladium ofPallas Athena and thedi Penates as well. Both of these items are said to have been brought into Italy by Aeneas.[51] The Palladium of Athena was, in the words ofLivy: "fatale pignus imperii Romani" ("[a] pledge of destiny for the Roman empire").[52] Such was the Palladium's importance that when the Gauls sacked Rome in 390 BC, the Vestals first buried the Palladium before removing themselves to the safety of nearbyCaere.[48] Such objects were kept in thepenus Vestae (i.e., the sacred repository of the temple of Vesta).[53]
Despite being one of the most spiritual of Roman Shrines, that of Vesta was not atemplum in the Roman sense of the word; that is, it was not a building consecrated by the augurs and so it could not be used for meetings by Roman officials.[54] It has also been claimed that the shrine of Vesta in Rome was not atemplum because of its round shape. However, atemplum was not a building, but rather a sacred space that could contain a building of either rectangular or circular shape. In fact, earlytempla were often altars that were consecrated and later had buildings erected around them.[55] The temple of Vesta in Rome was anaedes and not atemplum most likely because of the character of the cult of Vesta, the exact reason being unknown.[55]
TheVirgo Vestalis Maxima depicted in a Roman statue
The Vestales were one of the few full-timeclergy positions inRoman religion. They were drawn from thepatrician class and were required to swear an oath of absolutechastity for 30 years.[56][57] It was because of this requirement that the Vestales were named the Vestal virgins. They wore a particular style of dress and were not allowed to let the fire go out on pain of a whipping. On becoming a priestess, a Vestal Virgin was legally emancipated from her father's authority.[58] The Vestal Virgins lived together in a house near the Forum (Atrium Vestae), supervised by thePontifex Maximus. A Vestal who broke her vow of chastity could be tried forincestum and if found guilty, buried alive in theCampus Sceleris ('Field of Wickedness').[58][59][60]
Thefebruae (lanas: woolen threads) that were an essential part of the Vestal costume were supplied by therex sacrorum andflamen dialis.[61] Once a year, the Vestals gave therex sacrorum a ritualised warning to be vigilant in his duties, using the phrase "Vigilasne rex, vigila!" In Cicero's opinion, the Vestals ensured that Rome kept its contact with the gods.[62]
A peculiar duty of the Vestals was the preparation and conservation of the sacredsalamoiamuries used for the savouring of themola salsa, a salted flour mixture to be sprinkled on sacrificial victims (hence the Latin verbimmolare, "to put on themola, to sacrifice"). This dough too was prepared by them on fixed days.[63] Theirs also the task of preparing thesuffimen for theParilia.[64]
Domestic and family life in general were represented by the festival of the goddess of the house and of the spirits of the storechamber – Vesta and thePenates – onVestalia (7 – 15 June).[65] On the first day of festivities thepenus Vestae (sanctum sanctorum ofher temple which was usually curtained off) was opened, for the only time during the year, at which women offered sacrifices.[66] As long as the curtain remained open, mothers could come, barefoot and disheveled, to leave offerings to the goddess in exchange for a blessing to them and their family.[67] The animal consecrated to Vesta, the donkey, was crowned with garlands of flowers and bits of bread on 9 June.[68][25] The final day (15 June) was Q(uando) S(tercum) D(elatum) F(as) ["when dung may be removed lawfully"] – thepenus Vestae was solemnly closed; theFlaminica Dialis observed mourning, and the temple was subjected to a purification calledstercoratio: the filth was swept from the temple and carried next by the route calledclivus Capitolinus and then into the Tiber.[66]
In the militaryFeriale Duranum (AD 224) the first day ofVestalia isVesta apperit[ur] and the last day isVesta cluditur. This year records asupplicatio dedicated to Vesta for 9 June, and records of theArval Brethren on this day observe a blood sacrifice to her as well.[69] Found in theCodex-Calendar of 354, 13 February had become the holidayVirgo Vestalis parentat, a public holiday which by then had replaced the olderparentalia where the sacrifice of cattle over flames is now dedicated to Vesta. This also marks the first participation of the Vestal Virgins in rites associated with theManes.[22]
Vesta had no official mythology, and she existed as an abstract goddess of the hearth and of chastity.[70] Only in the account of Ovid atCybele's party does Vesta appear directly in a myth.[71]
Plutarch, in hisLife of Romulus, told a variation ofRomulus' birth citing a compilation of Italian history by a Promathion. In this version, while Tarchetius wasking of Alba Longa, a phantom phallus appeared in his hearth. The king visited an oracle of Tethys in Etrusca, who told him that a virgin must have intercourse with this phallus. Tarchetius instructed one of his daughters to do so, but she refused sending a handmaiden in her place. Angered, the king contemplated her execution; however, Vesta appeared to him in his sleep and forbade it. When the handmaid gave birth to twins by the phantom, Tarchetius handed them over to his subordinate, Teratius, with orders to destroy them. Teratius instead carried them to the shore of the river Tiber and laid them there. Then a she-wolf came to them and breastfed them, birds brought them food and fed them, before an amazed cow-herder came and took the children home with him. Thus they were saved, and when they were grown up, they set upon Tarchetius and overcame him.[72][73] Plutarch concludes with a contrast between Promathion's version of Romulus' birth and that of the more credibleFabius Pictor which he describes in a detailed narrative and lends support to.[74]
Dionysius of Halicarnassus recounts a local story regarding the birth of kingServius Tullius. In it, a phallus rose from the hearth of Vesta in Numa's palace, and Ocresia was the first to see it. She immediately informed the king and queen. KingTarquinius, upon hearing this, was astonished; butTanaquil, whose knowledge of divination was well-known, told him it was a blessing that a birth by the hearth's phallus and a mortal woman would produce superior offspring. The king then chose Ocresia to have intercourse with it, for she had seen it first. During which either Vulcan, or the tutelary deity of the house, appeared to her. After disappearing, she conceived and delivered Tullius.[75] This story of his birth could be based on his name as Servius would euphemistically mean "son of servant", because his mother was a handmaiden.[76]
In book 6 of Ovid'sFasti:Cybele invited all the gods, satyrs, rural divinities, and nymphs to a feast, thoughSilenus came uninvited with his donkey. At some point during the feast, Vesta lay at rest, andPriapus spotted her. As he approached her in order to violate her, the ass brought by Silenus let out a timely bray, whereupon Vesta awoke and Priapus barely escaped the outraged gods.[77] Mentioned in book 1 of theFasti is a similar instance of Priapus' impropriety involvingLotis and Priapus. The Vesta-Priapus account is not as well developed as that involving Lotis, and critics suggest the account of Vesta and Priapus only exists to create a cult drama.[78] Ovid says the donkey was adorned with necklaces of bread-bits in memory of the event. Elsewhere, he says donkeys were honored on 9 June during theVestalia in thanks for the services they provided in the bakeries.[77]
Vesta's cult is attested atBovillae,Lavinium andTibur. The Alban Vestals at Bovillae (Albanae Longanae Bovillenses) were supposedly a continuation of the original Alban Vestals, and Lavinium had the Vestals of the Laurentes Lavinates, both orders rooted in ancient traditions that were thought to predate Rome's foundation. In a later period, Tibur's vestals are attested epigraphically.[79] Vestals might have been present at the sanctuary ofDiana Nemorensis nearAricia.[80]
^A. Brelich "Vesta"Albae Vigiliae n. s. 7 (Zurich 1949) p. 48-66 as cited by D. P. Harmon "Religion in Latin Elegists"Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römische Welt 1986 p. 1971.
^Ovid VI. 269–270:"Vesta is the same as the earth, both have the perennial fire: the Earth and the sacred Fire are both symbolic of home." Earth beingTerra in Latin, a hint to the goddess TerraLittlewood 2006, p. 90); V. 945: "the goddess comes plaited with various garlands and a thousand flowers." Flowers being a hint to Tellus.
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