"Numa erected the Temple of Vesta (A.U.C. 37) between the Capitoline
and Palatine Hills; the Forum in which this temple was built lying
between them" (Dionysius, ii. 66). "It was made round, as a symbol of
the earth" (Ovid, "Fasti," vi. 265). "The roof was covered with bronze
of Syracuse" (Pliny, xxxiv. 7). It was destroyed by fire under Nero
and Commodus, and rebuilt by Vespasian and Septimius Severus. It was
the conservatory of the Palladium and holy fire. The number of Virgins
was originally four, afterwards increased to six. They were bound to
their ministry for thirty years. If they broke their vow they were
buried alive: they took their vows for thirty years. "Ten years they
were being instructed in their duties, ten years they practised them,
and ten years they passed in instructing others" (Plutarch).
_On the opposite corner of the Forum_ ten columns and the side walls
remain of