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Who were they || Qualifications || Life after . . . || Crime and Punishment
Vestal Virgins
are a subject of much fascination. Modern day, when people hear the
term they often perceived them as pagan nuns. That assumption is
not entirely correct. Let me set the record straight . . .
Who were they?
Vestal Virgins are the only females aside from prostitutes that were
free from marriage after Augustan legislation. They are also the
only females in the Roman religious order. They are priestess of
the goddess Vesta, the goddess of the hearth. Their job among others
is to attend to her holy fire.
Qualifications
Girls from all classes in Rome could become Vestal Virgins. After
5 C.E. (under Augustan legislation) even daughters of freedmen are eligible.
A girl can apply for a vacant spot when she is between six and ten.
To be selected her parents must be both living, and her family record must
be unblemished. A girl could be rejected if her parents are divorced.
When a girl became a Vestal Virgin, she pass out of the control of her
father (potestas). Unlike the rest of the Roman women, Vestal Virgins
had control of their property having no tutor(tutela). However, upon
entering the order, she losses her right to inherit property. She
is given a stipend when she joins the cult of Vesta to make up for her
dowry. It is suggested by the sources that she receives more property
as a Vestal Virgin form of gifts from devotees. Although she is no
longer under the manus (hand) of her father, she is under the control of
the Pontifex Maximus.
Life after . . .
After thirty years of service, a Vestal is free to leave the order.
However, few does because it is hard to acquire marriage of love at their
age when they no longer have youthful beauty (most girls marry between
twelve and sixteen) and they lack fertility. Marriages that does
form often end unhappily.
Patrican fathers are most reluctant to give up their daughters to the cult of Vesta because daughters are often important political tools used in marriage to secure alliances. There was a serious shortage of Vestal Virgins by the time of Augustus that he had to increase the pay that a girl received upon entering the order, as well as open up the position to the daughters of freedmen.
The punishment for a Vestal Virgin to loss her virginity is to be buried alive. This is stronger than the punishment for stuprum (literally, an immoral act, it usually implies an immoral sexual act . . . sometimes adultery) because of the religious importance of the Vestal Virgins.
Raping a Vestal Virgin is also punishable by death. The modern day equivalent today would be raping someone like Mother Teresa (when she was alive of course) . . . The traditional punishment is being clubed to death . . .
The exception to this rule was Mars, who raped Rhea Silvia, a Vestal
Virgin. She than gave birth to Romulus and Remus who found Rome.
Obviously, gods get special privileges.