Have you ever heard the expression, "As pure as a Vestal Virgin"? If you have then this is the legend of the Vestal Virgins and you will soon discover how and why the expression came into being. In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins were the virgin holy priestesses of Vesta, the gooddess of the hearth. Their primary taks was to maintain the sacred fire of Vesta, and they were the only female priests within the Roman religious system. The Vestal Virgins however, went onto become a powerful force within the Roman state. For instance, they were included in the matter of all dedications and ceremonies by the emperor Augustus Caesar.
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Legend has it that the Vestal Virgins were committed to the priesthood at a yound and tender age and were sworn to celibacy for a period of 30 years. These thirty years were divided into three periods of a decade each -- 10 were spent as students, 10 in service and 10 as teachers. The Vestal Virgins who were considered holy and pure (hence the expression), were cosen by the high prest and were required to be free of physical and mental defects, have two living parents and to be daughters fo free-born Italian residents. Their tasks included the maintenance of the fire sacred to Vesta, collecting water from a sacred spring, the preparation of food used in rituals and caring for any sacred objects within the temple's sanctuary.
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The dignities and privileges accorded to them were many, owing to their high status. For instance, unlike most Roman women they had the right to own property, make a will and vote. In national crisis, their advice was undisputed, and they were entrusted with important state documents. They could free condemned prisoners and slaves by merely touching them. In fact, it's said that if a prisoner on his way to the gallow met a Vestal Virgin, he was automatically pardoned. The chief festival of Vesta was the Vestalia which was celebrated from June 7 to June 15. On June 7 only, her sanctuary (which normally no one except her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins, entered) was accessible to mothers of families who brought her offerings in the form of plates of food. The simple ceremonies were officiated over by the Vestals and they gathered grain and made salty cakes for the festival. However, the College of the Vestal Virgins was disbanded by order of emperor Thedosius I in 394 BC.....
