Vesta was the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman mythology, analogous to Hestia in Greek mythology. She is never depicted: the sacred flame was her numinous presence.

Deity

Vesta was introduced in Rome by King Numa Pompilius. She was a native Roman deity (some authors suggest received from the Sabine cults), presumably the daughter of Saturn and Ops (or Rea). However, the similarity with the cult of Greek Hestia is notable. Vesta too protected familial harmony and the res publica. Apollo and Neptune had asked for her in marriage, but she refused both, preferring to preserve her virginity, whose symbol was the perpetually lit fire in her circular fane next to the Forum which the Romans always distinguished from a temple by calling it her "house".

Vestales

The fire was guarded by her priestesses, the Vestales. Every March 1 the fire was renewed. It burned until AD 391, when the Emperor Theodosius I forbade public pagan worship. One of the Vestales was Rea Silvia, who with Mars conceived Romulus and Remus (see founding of Rome).

The Vestales were one of the few full time clergy positions in Roman religion. They were drawn from the patrician class and had to observe absolute chastity for 30 years (they were also called the Vestal virgins). They could not show excessive care of their person, and they must not let the fire go out. The Vestal Virgins lived together in a house (Atrium Vestae) near the Forum, supervised by the Pontifex Maximus. On becoming a priestess, a Vestal Virgin was legally emancipated from her father's authority. If a Vestal broke her vow of chastity before the 30 years were up, she was condemned to be buried alive in the Campus Sceleris ('Field of Wickedness'); this is what probably happened to Rea Silvia.

The Vestales wore a tunica, a simple dress that they used for both the temple and everyday life (people in Rome usually dressed one way at home and another for the outdoors). In Italian, the vestaglia (dressing-gown) is named after the clothes worn by the Vestales.

Vestalia

Vesta was celebrated at the Vestalia, June 7 to June 15. On the first day of the festivities the penus Vestae (the curtained sanctum sanctorum of her temple) was opened, for the only time during the year, for women to offer sacrifices in.

See also

• Roman religion: Roman festivals, Roman mythology, Founding of Rome, Hestia, Caca, Juturna, Vestal Virgin, Similarities between Roman, Greek, and Etruscan mythologies
• Other: Rhea Silvia, Romanian mythology, Pontifex Maximus, List of deities, Amulius
• The asteroid 4 Vesta