The Vestals
Vesta was the oldest child of Saturn and Rhea, and was the goddess of
the family hearth. As the hearth was the basis of all domestic ties,
Vesta was considered the guardian of family happiness, and her worship
was an essential part of the family life. The hearth in ancient days
had a much greater significance than in modern times, for it was the
center of the household, around which the family gathered for their
common meal and common worship. On the hearth, as an altar-fire, the
head of the household offered prayers and sacrifices; and it made a
bond of union so generally recognized that he who partook of food
there, or who shared in the family worship, could ever afterward
lay claim to the master's hospitality. If a suppliant was seeking
protection from any danger, it was to a man's hearth that he came as
a sure place of refuge. The flames that burned on this family altar
were sacred to the goddess Vesta, and prayers for domestic happiness
and the household's welfare were usually offered to her. Thus the fire
burning on the hearth of each dwelling was a perpetual worship of
the beneficent Vesta, and even the sacrifices made to other gods were
partly in her honor; for whenever the flames were rekindled, a prayer
was offered to the goddess of the family fireside.
Every dwelling was, therefore, in some sense, a temple of Vesta; but
there was also in each city a stately edifice where all the citizens
worshiped at her sacred fire, and were thus bound together in one
great family. In Rome, where the worship of Vesta was most celebrated,
a beautiful circular temple, dedicated to the goddess, stood in the
Forum. It was not necessary to place a statue of Vesta here, for the
eternal fire that glowed on her altar was her living symbol, and
through this she was worshiped. This fire was supposed to have been
brought to Italy by Æneas when he fled from burning Troy and carried
with him out of the city two valuable possessions, _i.e._ the fire of
Vesta and his own household gods--or Penates. When a colony was sent
out from any city, the emigrants took some of the fire from the temple
of Vesta in the mother town, and guarded it during their voyages, that
they might use its flames to light the fires that were to burn on the
hearths of the new homes. Each city cherished carefully the fire that
was sacred to Vesta, and never allowed it to burn out, for that was an
evil omen sure to presage disaster. If by any chance it was allowed
to become extinct, it was never relit from any ordinary fire, but was
kindled with a spark produced by friction, or by drawing fire from the
sun's rays through a glass.
The temple at Rome was the most famous of those dedicated to Vesta, for
here was the school of the Vestal Virgins whose duty it was to tend her
ever-living fire. As any neglect on their part might bring some public
calamity upon Rome, this altar was jealously guarded; and when, as it
sometimes happened, enemies threatened the city, the Vestals carried
the fire of Vesta down the Tiber and kept it in concealment until
the danger was over. Since so much depended on the watchfulness and
fidelity of the Vestals, the office of priestess to the temple was held
in high honor, and the maidens were chosen from the noblest families
of Rome. They entered the service at the very youthful age of six, and
spent thirty years in the temple. The first ten years were devoted to
learning their important duties; the next decade was the period for
filling the office of priestess, and performing all the solemn rites
that belonged to the worship of Vesta; the last ten years were given to
instructing the novices. When the thirty years of service were over,
the Vestals could continue in the temple, or leave it and marry if they
desired; but so holy were the Virgins thought to become through their
long residence in the temple, that it was held a sort of sacrilege for
any man to marry them. Therefore the priestesses usually died, as they
had lived, in the service of the goddess.
The chief duty of the Vestals was to watch in turns, by night and day,
the sacred fire of Vesta, and to see that the flames never grew dim.
During their entire period of service, they were obliged to keep the
strictest vows of chastity, under penalty of being buried alive in
a vaulted room, built especially for this purpose by the king, Numa
Pompilius. The Vestals, were, however, so true to all the vows made at
the great altar-fire, that in a thousand years only eighteen failed in
their promises and thus suffered punishment. The story is told that the
Vestal Tuccia was accused of having broken her vow, but was able to
prove her purity, by being given the miraculous power to carry water in
a sieve from the Tiber to the temple.
[Illustration: Tuccia]
Though the restrictions placed upon the Vestals were severe, and the
rules of their order were pitilessly enforced, yet the privileges
that they enjoyed were such as to raise them in dignity above the
other women of Rome. They were entirely released from all parental
authority; they had conspicuous places at the theaters and gladiatorial
shows, and occupied seats of honor at all public festivals. Treaties
and important state documents were intrusted to their care as in a
place inviolable; and their persons were held so holy that, when they
died, they were buried within the city limits--a privilege granted to
but few. When they went abroad, each was preceded by a lictor; and
consuls, prætors, and even tribunes made way for them, while if any one
passed under their litter, he was put to death. If they chanced to meet
a criminal on his way to punishment, they could demand his release,
provided that it could be proved that the meeting was accidental. The
Vestals wore a robe of pure white linen with a wide purple border,
and over their shoulders was a purple mantle. When the festivals of
Vesta, the Vestalia, were held, the priestesses marched in a procession
through the streets, carrying their sacred fire, while the Roman
matrons followed them barefooted, chanting hymns in praise of Vesta.
During these ceremonies all work was suspended in the city, the houses
were decked with flowers, and the beasts used in the procession were
wreathed in garlands; banquets were set out before the houses, and the
people gave themselves up to a gala-day.
II
When Æneas fled from burning Troy, and took with him some of the
fire from the temple of Vesta, as the thing most necessary in the
founding of a new city, he also brought to the shores of Italy his
own household gods--or Penates--who presided over the daily affairs of
the household, and were the guardians of each member of the family on
whose hearth they held the place of honor. The statues of the Penates
were of clay, wax, ivory, silver, or gold according to the master's
wealth, and were always carried to the new home when the family changed
its dwelling place. When the common meal was served, a small portion
of it was set aside for the Penates, and a libation of wine was poured
to them on the hearth. In return for this daily deference, the Penates
blessed the household with happiness and prosperity.
The Lares were also worshiped by the Roman family, though they were
quite unknown to the Greeks. They were the divinities that preserved
the family unity, and often were a sort of embodiment of the spirit of
its head and founder. The Lares also guarded the welfare of the city,
and presided over the fortunes of those great groups of families that
were the probable foundation of every Roman town. Tradition tells us
that the Lares were the two children of Mercury and a beautiful Naiad
named Lara. This nymph was so loquacious that she talked from morning
to night, and was very fond of prying into other people's affairs, that
she might thereby have some new subjects for conversation. One day
she heard Jupiter making love to a beautiful wood-nymph, and instead
of keeping the matter discreetly to herself, she hurried off to tell
the whole affair to Juno. This impertinence so angered Jupiter that he
determined to punish her severely and also to prevent her from doing
any more talebearing; so he had poor Lara's tongue cut off. Then he
summoned Mercury and bade him take the nymph to Hades, where the sight
of her sad face could never offend his eyes. On the way down to Pluto's
kingdom, Mercury fell in love with his fair companion; and instead of
leading her into Hades, he took her to a kindlier place, where he soon
won her love and persuaded her to be his wife. The two children of
Mercury and Lara were called Lares, and to them the Romans paid many
honors, reserving for them a place of honor on the family hearth.