List of Vestals Vestal Virgin

1 list of vestals

1.1 legendary vestals
1.2 vestals in republic
1.3 imperial vestals
1.4 outside rome

list of vestals

from institution of vestal priesthood abolition, unknown number of vestals held office. several named in roman myth , history.

legendary vestals

rhea silvia, mythical mother of rome s founders, romulus , remus.
aemilia, who, when sacred fire extinguished on 1 occasion, prayed vesta assistance, , miraculously rekindled throwing piece of garment upon extinct embers.

vestals in republic

aemilia (d. 114 bc), marcia (d. 114 bc), , licinia (d. 114 - 113 bc), accused of multiple acts of incestum (violations of vows of chastity). aemilia, had supposedly led 2 others follow example, condemned outright. marcia, accused of 1 offence, , licinia, accused of many, @ first acquitted pontifices, retried praetor , jurist lucius cassius longinus ravilla (consul 127 bc), , condemned death. prosecution offered 2 sibylline prophecies in support of final verdicts. charges trumped up, , may have been politically motivated.
oppia vestal virgin in republic. in 483 bc, following series of portents, , advice soothsayers religious ceremonies not being duly attended to, found guilty of breach of chastity , punished.
fonteia, served c. 91–69 bc, recorded vestal during trial of brother in 69 bc, have begun service before father s death in 91.
fabia, chief vestal (b. c. 98–97 bc; fl. 50 bc), admitted order in 80 bc, half-sister of terentia (cicero s first wife), , wife of dolabella later married niece tullia; mother of later consul of name. in 73 bc acquitted of incestum lucius sergius catilina.
licinia (flourished 1st century bc), supposedly courted kinsman, so-called triumvir marcus licinius crassus, in fact wanted property. relationship gave rise rumors. plutarch says: , yet when further on in years, accused of criminal intimacy licinia, 1 of vestal virgins , licinia formally prosecuted plotius. licinia owner of pleasant villa in suburbs crassus wished @ low price, , reason forever hovering woman , paying court her, until fell under abominable suspicion. , in way avarice absolved him charge of corrupting vestal, , acquitted judges. did not let licinia go until had acquired property. licinia became vestal in 85 bc , remained vestal until 61 bc.

imperial vestals

rubria, said suetonius have been married emperor nero
aquilia severa, whom emperor elagabalus married amid considerable scandal.
coelia concordia, last head of order.

outside rome

inscriptions record existence of vestals in other locations centre of rome.

manlia severa, virgo albana maxima, chief alban vestal @ bovillae brother l. manlius severus named rex sacrorum in funerary inscription. mommsen thought rex sacrorum of rome, view not considered probable.
flavia (or valeria) vera, virgo vestalis maxima arcis albanae, chief vestal virgin of alban arx (citadel).
caecilia philete, senior virgin (virgo maior) of laurentum-lavinium, commemorated father, q. caecilius papion. title maior means @ lavinium vestals two.
saufeia alexandria, virgo vestalis tiburtium.
cossinia l(ucii) f(iliae), virgo vestalis of tibur (tivoli).
primigenia, alban vestal of bovillae, mentioned symmachus in 2 of letters.




^ dionysus of halicarnassus, book ii, 68, 3: loeb edition available @ thayer, chicago.edu: valerius maximus, i. 1. §7
^ wildfang, robin lorsch, rome s vestal virgins: study of rome s vestal priestesses in late republic , empire, routledge/taylor & francis, 2007, p. 93ff [1]
^ phyllis cunham, in harriet flower (ed), cambridge companion roman republic, cambridge university press, 2004, p.155.googlebooks partial preview. accusations against licinia included fraternal incest. contemporary , possible political ally of gracchi brothers. in 123 bc roman senate had annulled attempted rededication of bona dea s aventine temple illegal , against of people . may have fallen victim factional politics of times.
^ cite error: named reference referenceb invoked never defined (see page).
^ cicero, pro fonteio 46–49; aulus gellius 1.12.2; t.r.s. broughton, magistrates of roman republic (american philological association, 1952), vol. 2, pp. 24–25.
^ wildfang, robin lorsch, rome s vestal virgins: study of rome s vestal priestesses in late republic , empire, routledge/taylor & francis, 2007, p. 96, preview via google books
^ lewis, r. g., catalina , vestal , classical quarterly, 51.1, pp. 141 - 9 (2001) link jstor case prosecuted cicero.
^ plutarch, life of crassus . penelope.uchicago.edu. retrieved 2012-11-19. 
^ cil xiv 2140 = ils 6190, found in 1728 @ xi mile of via appia, in lapidary gallery of vatican museums: mentions dedication of clipeus brother.
^ cil xiv 2413 = ils 4942 presently no longer reperible in palazzo mattei in rome.
^ cil vi 2172 = ils 5011, found in rome near basilique of st. saba, in lapidary gallery of vatican museum. dedicatory inscription on little base, possibly of statuette housed in home of same vestal on little aventine. m. g. granino cecere vestali non di roma in studi di epigrafia latina 20 2003 p. 70-71.
^ virgo maior regia laurentium lavinatium, cil xiv 2077, read pirro ligorio, housed in palazzo borghese @ pratica di mare. cecere above p. 72.
^ cil xiv 3677 = ils 6244 on base of honorary statue, irreperible. possibly mentioned in cil xiv 3679a. cecere above p. 73-74
^ inscr. it. iv n. 213. inscription on funerary monument discovered @ tivoli in july 1929. on front name of vestal incised within oak wreath onto adheres sacred infula, knot of order; name of dedicant (l. cossinius electus, relative, brother or nephew) on lower margin. cecere above p. 75.