mhacdebhandia
Explorer
I'd like to expand on the Vestal virgins briefly.
So, you have a group of women, almost exclusively aristocratic. Ideally, they would be drawn from the original patrician families of Rome, but there were quite a few very old and well-respected senatorial plebeian families by the time of Gaius Julius Caesar (the famous one), who held the position of Pontifex Maximus (essentially, the chief priest of the state religion) and was therefore the legal father and guardian of the Vestal virgins.
The Vestal virgins were obliged to live within the same house as the Pontifex Maximus, but they lived in their own side of the building, the sanctity of which he traditionally respected. They were not barred from participation in society, but it was considered disrespectable to frequently attend gatherings at which young men were present. Their chief function in society apart from various religious duties was to keep the wills of senatorial and equestrian men in safekeeping - their home was a safe place for wills and testaments because it was supposed to be inviolate.
The Pontifex Maximus was traditionally in charge of the selection process for the Vestal virgins; he had the right to send an unsuitable young woman (most were sent to him around the age of ten or twelve) back to her family, which was pretty much considered a disgrace. He also had the right to ask them to retire, which most did after middle age.
It was an honourable position but a difficult one for many normal women to fulfill, as witnessed by the not-infrequent charges of unchastity levelled at them. If they were found unchaste, they were bricked up alive with one jug of water and a loaf of bread - Romans were loath to kill the servants of their gods, but were happy to let thirst and starvation do it for them. I seem to recall that the punishment for men was scourging.
So, you have a group of women, almost exclusively aristocratic. Ideally, they would be drawn from the original patrician families of Rome, but there were quite a few very old and well-respected senatorial plebeian families by the time of Gaius Julius Caesar (the famous one), who held the position of Pontifex Maximus (essentially, the chief priest of the state religion) and was therefore the legal father and guardian of the Vestal virgins.
The Vestal virgins were obliged to live within the same house as the Pontifex Maximus, but they lived in their own side of the building, the sanctity of which he traditionally respected. They were not barred from participation in society, but it was considered disrespectable to frequently attend gatherings at which young men were present. Their chief function in society apart from various religious duties was to keep the wills of senatorial and equestrian men in safekeeping - their home was a safe place for wills and testaments because it was supposed to be inviolate.
The Pontifex Maximus was traditionally in charge of the selection process for the Vestal virgins; he had the right to send an unsuitable young woman (most were sent to him around the age of ten or twelve) back to her family, which was pretty much considered a disgrace. He also had the right to ask them to retire, which most did after middle age.
It was an honourable position but a difficult one for many normal women to fulfill, as witnessed by the not-infrequent charges of unchastity levelled at them. If they were found unchaste, they were bricked up alive with one jug of water and a loaf of bread - Romans were loath to kill the servants of their gods, but were happy to let thirst and starvation do it for them. I seem to recall that the punishment for men was scourging.
