2021/01/01 by Karolina Wyrwińska · 1 citation
Arts and Humanities · Social Sciences · #Ancient history #Art #Classical Antiquity Studies #Classical Studies and Legal History #Eternity #Historical and Religious Studies of Rome #History #Law #Literature #Misfortune #Narrative #Political science #Politics #Power (physics) #State (computer science) #Subject (documents) #Subject matter
paper · pdf · doi:10.4467/20844131ks.21.011.13519
openalex publication_date 2021/01/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/08/01
Roman women – priestesses, patrician women, mysterious guardians of the sacred flame of goddess Vesta, admired and respected, sometimes blamed for misfortune of the Eternal City. Vestals identified with the eternity of Rome, the priestesses having a specific, unavailable to other women power. That power gained at the moment of a ritual capture (captio) and responsibilities and privileges resulted from it are the subject matter of this paper. The special attention is paid to the importance of Vestals for Rome and Romans in various historic moments, and to the purifying rituals performed by Vestals on behalf of the Roman state’s fortune. The study presents probable dating and possible causes of the end of the College of the Vestals in Rome.