The bizarre and fascinating history of the Vestal Virgins and their sacred duties

Roman tradition said that Numa Pompilius created the Vestals to respect Vesta and to make up for the wrongs of Rome’s early kings.

Rome’s chief priest picked girls aged six to ten from freeborn families whose parents were both alive.

Good health and a clear mind proved essential, and any problem with body or mind could eliminate a candidate.

In a ceremony called the captio, the Pontifex Maximus led each chosen girl from her family home to Vesta’s temple.

This ritual removed her from her father’s control. 

Vestal service lasted thirty years, split into three parts of ten years. In the first part, the Vestals learned the rituals, in the second they performed them, and in the third they trained new members.

After she completed her service, a Vestal received a regular payment and the right to marry, but in practice most chose to live quiet lives rather than accept marriages arranged by the Pontifex. 

The Vestals’ main job lay in caring for Vesta’s eternal flame, which burned in a bronze container at the temple’s centre and never went out.

Every morning one Vestal checked the fuel, added wood or oil, and burned incense.

Another Vestal fetched holy water from the spring of the Aquae Vestae for rituals.

For this reason, they did not use ordinary aqueduct water for sacred purposes. 

Another important task involved producing the mola salsa, a salted mix of coarse flour and salt that Romans sprinkled on all state ceremonies to give the Vestals’ blessing.

They baked special breads, mixed holy wine with salt, and looked after the temple’s inner room.

At the Vestalia festival in July, Vestals led public ceremonies and received offerings from Roman matrons who sought purification. 

Vestal Virgins had legal and social freedoms that no other women had, and answered only to the state and the Pontifex Maximus.

They could own property, manage their money, and speak in court without a guardian’s permission, and a Vestal’s action could free someone sentenced to death.

Their personal safety held very high status: harming a Vestal was seen as a crime against the gods. 

In public celebrations, Vestals sat in the best seats and rode in two-horse carriages escorted by official attendants.

Because of this, even senators and magistrates respected their status. Vestals often joined political leaders at official ceremonies and carried moral importance. 

The vow of chastity was at the centre of the Vestals’ authority. Any break of this vow led to a harsh and symbolic punishment so a Vestal found guilty of incestum faced being buried alive in a small underground chamber with only a little food and water.

The man involved was executed. Afterward, if a Vestal failed to perform sacred duties, for example, if she allowed the flame to die, the Pontifex punished her with public whipping. 

These punishments discouraged wrongdoing. However, only a few cases were recorded in Roman history.

In AD 81, Cornelia, the head Vestal, was accused of incestum. Emperor Domitian ordered her burial, and her accused assistants were executed.

After these events, Romans performed extra rites to win back the gods’ favour.

Throughout Roman history, there were several notable Vestal Virgins who became famous for their deeds. One such Vestal was Rhea Silvia.

Legend has it that Rhea Silvia was a Vestal Virgin and the mother of the founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus.

According to Roman mythology, Rhea Silvia was the daughter of Numitor, the king of Alba Longa, who was overthrown by his younger brother Amulius.

To prevent Numitor's heirs from seeking revenge, Amulius forced Rhea Silvia to become a Vestal Virgin, which meant she had to take a vow of chastity.

However, Rhea Silvia was impregnated by Mars, the god of war, and gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus.

Amulius ordered the babies to be drowned in the Tiber River, but they were saved by a she-wolf and raised by a shepherd.

Romulus and Remus later grew up to found Rome, with Romulus becoming its first king.

Tuccia was another Vestal Virgin who lived in ancient Rome. According to legend, Tuccia was accused of breaking her vow of chastity and was put to the test by the Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of Rome.

He ordered Tuccia to carry water from the Tiber River to the Temple of Vesta in a sieve, which was thought to be impossible for anyone who was not a virgin.

Tuccia prayed to Vesta for help and successfully completed the task without spilling a drop of water.

Her innocence was thus proven, and she was acquitted of the charges against her. 

The most famous Vestal was perhaps Claudia Quinta. Claudia Quinta was a Vestal Virgin who lived in ancient Rome during the Second Punic War.

She was accused of unchastity and brought before the Pontifex Maximus for trial.

However, Claudia maintained her innocence and proclaimed that she was a faithful servant of the goddess Vesta and prayed to her for help.

The next day, a ship carrying a statue of the goddess Cybele became stuck in the Tiber River.

Despite the efforts of the crew and the citizens of Rome, the ship refused to budge.

Claudia was then summoned to the river and, with the help of Vesta, was able to move the ship single-handedly.

This miracle was seen as a sign of her innocence, and Claudia was exonerated of all charges. 

Over time, Christian emperors slowly stopped supporting Rome’s pagan cults. In 382 AD, Emperor Gratian withdrew the Vestals’ funding.

Following that, in 394 AD, Theodosius I ended pagan worship, closed Vesta’s temple, and ordered the flame extinguished.

No new Vestals served after that decree, and the House of the Vestals was left in ruins with its gardens overgrown and its hearth cold. 

The Vestal Virgins had served Rome for over a thousand years. Their end saw Christianity’s victory over the old religions.

Still, their memory lived on in literature, art, and the stories of a city that had been built on fire and faith.

When the Vestal Virgins guarded Rome’s hearth, they protected the identity of a civilisation that valued order, ritual, and continuous tradition.