Vesta () is the virgin goddess of the hearth, home, and family in Roman religion. She was rarely depicted in human form, and was more often represented by the fire of her temple in the Forum Romanum. Entry to her temple was permitted only to her priestesses, the Vestal Virgins. Their virginity was deemed essential to Rome's survival; if found guilty of inchastity, they were buried or entombed alive. As Vesta was considered a guardian of the Roman people, her festival, the Vestalia (7–15 June), was regarded as one of the most important Roman holidays. During the Vestalia privileged matrons walked barefoot through the city to the temple, where they presented food offerings. Such was Vesta's importance to Roman religion that following the rise of Christianity, hers was one of the last non-Christian cults still active, until it was forcibly disbanded by the Christian emperor Theodosius I in AD 391.
The myths depicting Vesta and her priestesses were few; the most notable of them were tales of miraculous impregnation of a virgin priestess by a phallus appearing in the flames of the sacred hearth — the manifestation of the goddess combined with a male supernatural being. In some Roman traditions, Rome's founders Romulus and Remus and the benevolent king Servius Tullius were conceived in this way. Vesta was among the Dii Consentes, twelve of the most honored gods in the Roman pantheon. She was the daughter of Saturn and Ops, and sister of Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, Juno, and Ceres. Her Greek equivalent is Hestia.
Etymology
Ovid derived Vesta from Latin – "standing by power". Cicero supposed that the Latin name Vesta derives from its Greek counterpart, Hestia, which Cornutus claimed to have derived from Greek ("standing for ever"). This etymology is offered by Servius as well. Another proposed etymology is that Vesta derives from Latin ("clothe"), as well as from Greek (hestia, "hearth" = focus urbis). None, except perhaps the last, are probable.
Georges Dumézil (1898–1986), a French comparative philologist, surmised that the name of the goddess derives from Proto-Indo-European root *h₁eu-, via the derivative form *h₁eu-s- which alternates with *h₁w-es-., part 2, chap. 2 (glottologist Émile Benveniste speaks on Georges Dumézil's theory) The former is found in Greek εὕειν , Latin , and Vedic osathi all conveying 'burning' and the second is found in Vesta. (Beekes considered the Greek goddess-name Ἑστία Hestia is probably unrelated.) See also Gallic Celtic visc "fire."
James Wilson Poultney suggested that Vesta may be related to the Umbrian god Uestisier (gen.)/Vestiçe (dat.) (as if Latin *Vesticius), itself related to Umbrian terms for 'libation' uestisiar (gen.sg.), 'pour a libation' uesticatu (imv.) from *westikia and *westikato:d respectively. Perhaps also related to Oscan Veskeí from the Oscan Tablet also known as the Agnone Dedication.Poultney, J.W. "Bronze Tables of Iguvium" 1959 pp. 331, 171 https://archive.org/details/bronzetablesofig00poul/page/n19/mode/2up
History Origin According to tradition, worship of Vesta in Italy began in Lavinium, the mother-city of Alba Longa and the first settlement by the Trojan refugees after their flight from Troy's destruction, led there by Aeneas and guided by Venus. It was believed that from Lavinium, the worship of Vesta was transferred to Alba Longa, a belief evident in the custom of Roman magistrates going to Lavinium, when appointed to higher office, and offering sacrifice both to Vesta and the household gods of the Roman state known as Penates, whose images were kept in Vesta's temple. Alongside those household gods was Vesta, whom the Roman poet refers to as Vesta Iliaca ("Vesta of Ilium/Troy"). Vesta's sacred hearth was also named Iliaci foci ("hearth of Ilium/Troy").
Worship of Vesta, like the worship of many gods, originated in the home, but in Roman historical tradition, it became an established cult of state during the reign of either Romulus, which cites:
or Numa Pompilius which cites:
(sources disagree, but most say Numa). The priestesses of Vesta, known as Vestal Virgins, administered her temple and sustained its sacred fire. The existence of Vestal Virgins in Alba Longa is connected with early Roman traditions, for the mother of Romulus and Remus, Rhea Silvia, was a priestess of Vesta, impregnated by either Mars or Hercules.
Roman Empire Roman tradition required that the leading priest of the Roman state, the pontifex maximus reside in a domus publicus ("publicly owned house"). After assuming the office of pontifex maximus in 12 BC, Augustus gave part of his private house to the Vestals as public property and incorporated a new shrine of Vesta within it. The old shrine remained in the Forum Romanum'''s temple of Vesta, but Augustus' gift linked the public hearth of the state with the official home of the pontifex maximus and the emperor's Palatine residence. This strengthened the connection between the office of pontifex maximus and the cult of Vesta. Henceforth, the office of pontifex maximus was tied to the title of emperor; vol. 1 Emperors were automatically priests of Vesta, and the pontifices were sometimes referred to as pontifices Vestae ("priests of Vesta"). vol. 1 In 12 BC, 28 April (first of the five day Floralia) was chosen ex senatus consultum to commemorate the new shrine of Vesta in Augustus' home on the Palatine.Degrassi (1963) 66; 133; Ovid, Fasti 4.943-54 The latter's hearth was the focus of the Imperial household's traditional religious observances. Various emperors led official revivals and promotions of the Vestals' cult, which in its various locations remained central to Rome's ancient traditional cults into the 4th century. Dedications in the Atrium of Vesta, dating predominantly AD 200 to 300, attest to the service of several Virgines Vestales Maxime. Vesta's worship began to decline with the rise of Christianity. In ca. 379, Gratian stepped down as pontifex maximus; in 382 he confiscated the Atrium Vestae and simultaneously withdrew its public funding. In 391, despite official and public protests, Theodosius I closed the temple, and extinguished the sacred flame. Finally, Coelia Concordia stepped down as the last Vestalis Maxima ("chief Vestal") in 394.
Depictions
Depicted as a good-mannered deity who never involved herself in the quarreling of other gods, Vesta was ambiguous at times due to her contradictory association with the phallus. She is considered the embodiment of the "Phallic Mother" by proponents of 20th Century psychoanalysis: she was not only the most virgin and clean of all the gods, but was addressed as mother and granted fertility. Mythographers tell us that Vesta had no myths save being identified as one of the oldest of the gods who was entitled to preference in veneration and offerings over all other gods. Unlike most gods, Vesta was hardly depicted directly; nonetheless, she was symbolized by her flame, the fire stick, and a ritual phallus (the fascinus).
While Vesta was the flame itself, the symbol of the phallus might relate to Vesta's function in fertility cults, but it maybe also invoked the goddess herself due to its relation to the fire stick used to light the sacred flame. She was sometimes thought of as a personification of the fire stick which was inserted into a hollow piece of wood and rotated – in a phallic manner – to light her flame.
Hearth Concerning the status of Vesta's hearth, Dionysius of Halicarnassus had this to say: "And they regard the fire as consecrated to Vesta, because that goddess, being the Earth and occupying the central position in the universe, kindles the celestial fires from herself."Dionysius of Halicarnassus, Roman Antiquities II 66, 3 Ovid agreed, saying: "Vesta is the same as the earth; both have the perennial fire: the Earth and the sacred Fire are both symbolic of home."Ovid, Fasti VI. 269–270 The sacred flames of the hearth were believed to be indispensable for the preservation and continuity of the Roman State: Cicero states it explicitly. The purity of the flames symbolised the vital force that is the root of the life of the community. It was also because the virgins' ritual concern extended to the agricultural cycle and ensured a good harvest that Vesta enjoyed the title of Mater ("Mother").A. Brelich "Vesta" Albae Vigiliae n. s. 7 (Zurich 1949) p. 48-66 as cited by D. P. Harmon "Religion in Latin Elegists" Aufstieg und Niedergang der Römische Welt 1986 p. 1971.
The fecundating power of sacred fire is testified to in Plutarch's version of the birth of Romulus and Remus,Plutarch Romulus 2.1–6. in the birth of king Servius Tullius,Dionysius of Halicarnassus IV 2, 1–4; Ovid Fasti VI, 633–636. whose mother Ocresia becomes pregnant after sitting upon a phallus that appeared among the ashes of the ara of the god Vulcanus by order of Tanaquil wife of king Tarquinius Priscus, and in the birth of Caeculus, the founder of Praeneste, who had the power to kindle or extinguish fires at will.Serv. Ad Aen. VII 678; Angelo Brelich Vesta 1949, pp.70, 97–98. All these mythical or semi-legendary characters show a mystical mastery of fire. Servius's hair was kindled by his father without hurting him, and even his statue in the temple of Fortuna Primigenia was unharmed by fire after his assassination.Ovid, Fasti VI 625–626.
Marriage
Vesta was connected to liminality, and the limen ("threshold") was sacred to her: brides were careful not to step on it, else they commit sacrilege by kicking a sacred object.Servius, Ecl. 8.29; 2.469; Aen. 6. 273 Servius explains that it would be poor judgement for a virgin bride to kick an object sacred to Vesta, a goddess who holds chastity sacred.Servius, Ecl. 8.29 On the other hand, it might merely have been because Romans considered it bad luck to trample any object sacred to the gods.Ovid, Amores, 1.12.2; Petronius, Satyricon 30 In Plautus' Casina, the bride Casina is cautioned to lift her feet carefully over the threshold following her wedding so she would have the upper hand in her marriage.Plautus, Casina 816–817 Likewise, Catullus cautions a bride to keep her feet over the threshold "with a good omen".Catullus 61.159–161 It is possible that the concern that brides not touch the threshold (limen) with their feet may be the source of the tradition of a husband carrying his new bride across the threshold when entering their new home following their marriage.
In Roman belief, Vesta was present in all weddings, and so was Janus: Vesta was the threshold and Janus the doorway. Similarly, Vesta and Janus were invoked in every sacrifice. It has been noted that because they were invoked so often, the evocation of the two came to simply mean, "to pray".Pliny the Elder, Natural History, 28. 135, 28. 142, 29. 30; Plutarch, Q.R. 31 In addition, Vesta was present with Janus in all sacrifices as well.Holland (1962; 283, following Wissowa 1912: 103)Servius (Ad. Aen. 1.292) It has also been noted that neither of them were consistently illustrated as human. This has been suggested as evidence of their ancient Italic origin, because neither of them was "fully anthropomorphized"Holland (1962; 265)
Agriculture Counted among the agricultural deities, Vesta has been linked to the deities Tellus and Terra in separate accounts. In Antiquitates rerum humanarum et divinarum, Varro links Vesta to Tellus. He says: "They think Tellus... is Vesta, because she is 'vested' in flowers". Verrius Flaccus, however, had identified Vesta with Terra. Ovid hints at Vesta's connection to both of the deities.Ovid VI. 269–270:"Vesta is the same as the earth, both have the perennial fire: the Earth and the sacred Fire are both symbolic of home." Earth being Terra in Latin, a hint to the goddess Terra ); V. 945: "the goddess comes plaited with various garlands and a thousand flowers." Flowers being a hint to Tellus.
Temple