VESTAL (" Virgo vestalis," Iseah), a priestess of the Roman deity Vesta. The number of those priestesses, according to the regulations of King Numa, was four, two for each of the ancient tribes. Servius Tullius, or. according to others, Tarqulnius Priscus, added two more, to represent the third tribe, or Li:cores. In the earliest times they were chosen by the kings, but afterwards by the Pontifex Maximua, who had the especial superintendence of everything connected with the worship of Vesta. At first the selection seems to have been left to his discretion, but subsequently, whenever there was a vacancy in the sisterhood, he drew by lot one out of twenty select virgins iu the assembly (in concione). It might happen that a parent offered his daughter, though this seems to have been the case very rarely. After the lot was drawn, the Pontifex took bold of the virgin, as if she were a prisoner, and having pronounced a certain solemn formula, he conducted her to the atrium of Vesta. Parents could only oppose their daughter being thus taken from them and devoted to the service of the goddess, in three cases : first, if one of her sisters was already a vestal ; secondly, if the parents had no more than three children ; and, thirdly, if the father held one of certain high priestly offices. In these CUBS parents were exempt from the obligation of allowing their daugh ter to become a priestess of Vesta. The conditions, on the other hand, on which alone a virgin could be made a vestal were-1, that her father was not carrying on a disreputable occupation ; 2, that her parents were free and freeborn, and settled in Italy ; 3, that both her parents were alive; and, 4, that she was neither younger than six nor older than ten years. From the moment that a vestal virgin was chosen and taken to the atrium of Vesta, she was emancipated from her father's power; she required no patron in any court of justice, and had the right to dispose of her property by testament ; and if she died without having made a will, her property fell to the republic. A vestal virgin, if once appointed, was obliged to serve the goddess for thirty years. The first ten years were a period of noviciate, during which they received instruction respecting the various duties that they had to perform. Then followed ten years during which they were allowed to perform all the functions of their office ; and during the last ten years they instructed those who were going through their apprenticeship. After the expiration of the thirty years they might, if they liked, unconsecrate (exeugursre) themselves, and might marry. This, however, happened very seldom : it was considered unlucky for vestals to marry. The habits which they had acquired during their priesthood generally induced them to continue in the service of their goddess for life. These virgin priests enjoyed at Rome the highest distinctions. When they went out a lictor walked before them; prwtors and consuls when they met them lowered the fasces, and any criminal whom their eye caught sight of was immediately ect free. In the theatres honorary seats were set apart for them. Augustus how ever prohibited their being present at the athletic games. Nero, on the other hand, abolished this law, and permitted them to be present, on the ground that the priestesses of Ceres were allowed to be present at the Olympic games. They had an official residence on the Via Sacra, and salaries derived from estates of the goddess, which were increased from time to time. A vestal virgin was considered to be of the same rank as the Flamen Dialis, and in a court of justice she could not be compelled to confirm her evidence by an oath. Their prayers were believed to be of particular efficacy, and wills and important documents were often intrusted to their keeping. They had also the
privilege of being buried within the pomceriurn.
The duties of the vestals were to keep the fire on the altar in the temple of Vesta burning, to guard the sacred relics and symbols preserved in the temple, to sprinkle the temple of the goddess every morning with water from the Egerian well, and various other things connected with the worship of Vesta. Besides the functions directly connected with the worship of Vesta, they had to perform in the course of the year various others. Thus, for instance, they conducted the mysterious worship of the Bonn Dea on the first of May, and had to prepare the sacrifice to be offered on certain occasions. If ever the sacred fire in the temple of Vesta became extinct by the carelessness of a 'priestess, the neglect was atoned for by sacrifices, and the guilty vestal was scourged by the Pontifex Maximus on her naked back. The fire was not rekindled from a common fire, but from one produced by the Pontifex by the friction of two pieces of wood, or from the rays of the sun by means of a burning-glass, and the vestal caught it in a brass sieve by means of tinder, and thus carried It into the temple. On entering on the priesthood every vestal had to make a solemn vow to keep her chastity pure, like the goddess whom she served, during the years of her priesthood. 4 breach of this vow was regarded as a terrible crime and as a fearful calamity to the whole state. When a vestal was found guilty by the college of pontiffs, she was condemned to death without having the right of appeal to, the people. As nothing but death could atone for her crime. and as it was nevertheless not allowed for any mortal to lay hands on the priestess of Vesta, she was buried alive in a subterraneous vault in the Campus Scelemtus, near Um Collin gate. The mournful solemnity on such occasions was this. The guilty vestal was laid on a bier, tied fast with leather thongs, and covered in such a manner that not even the sound of her voice could be heard. In this position she was carried, as it were, In a funeral procession, accompanied by her friends and relations, amidst the dead silence of all the people, to the place of execution near the Conine gate. On her arrival here she was relieved of her bands, the Pontifex Maximus with uplifted hands said a mysterious prayer, and then conducted the veiled vestal to the ladder which led into the tomb. The executioner took her down and drew up the ladder ; and during this process the pontiff and the other priests turned away their faces. In her tomb the vestal found a couch, a lamp, and some bread, water, milk, and oil. The tomb was closed and covered over with earth to a level with the rest of the ground. The man who had seduced a vestal was scourged to death. Notwithstanding the severity of the punishment, Roman history has on record several inatances in which the punishment was inflicted. During the time of the republic the violation of chastity on the part of a vestal was always visited by the punishment prescribed by law, unless the goddess herself interposed in some miraculous manner to show that her priestess had been unjustly charged with the crime. Several inte resting instances of this kind are related by the Roman historians.
During the early part of the empire the conduct of the vestals appears to have become rather loose, since Domitiau found it necessary to make the law concerning it more strict.
(Lipsiva, De Vesta et Vestalibus Syntagma ; Hartung, Die Religion der Romer, p. 115, &c.; Oottling, Geschichte der Rdmischen Stoats verfassnng, p. 1S9, &c.)