Post by Atheena on Nov 1, 2004 12:22:28 GMT -5
Vesta
(information from this website: sights.seindal.dk/sight/316_Vesta.html)
Vesta is the Roman goddess of the hearth fire. Vesta is one of the most ancient of the Roman deities, and her cult goes back to the 7th century BCE. Tradition will that the cult was instituted by Numa Pompilius.
The cult of Vesta was in the hands of the Vestal Virgins, a special female priesthood. The main public celebration was the Vestalia on June 7th.
Vesta only had one temple in Rome, the circular Temple of Vesta in the Forum Romanum. Inside the round temple burnt the eternal fire, the symbolic hearth of Rome and all the Roman people. If the fire was extinguished it would have grave consequences for the Romans. Also inside the temple, to which only the six vestal virgins had access, were kept the objects that Aeneas was said to have brought with him on his flight from Troy. This included the Palladius (an ancient wooden statue of Minerva), and the images of the Penates.
Vesta was represented by the fire. There was no cult statue in the temple, but Augustus had a statue placed on an altar in his house on the Palatine Hill in 12 BCE.
Other round temples have erroneously been attributed to Vesta by architectural analogy.
(Following information from this website: inanna.virtualave.net/roman.html )
From the earliest times Vesta had a prominent place in both family and state worship. Her worship was observed in every house and her image was sometimes included in the housealtar.
The state worship of Vesta was much more elaborate. Her sanctuary was traditionally a circular building, in imitation of the early Italian round hut and symbolic of the public hearth. The Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum was of great antiquity and underwent many restorations and rebuildings in both republican and imperial times. There burned the perpetual fire of the public hearth attended by the Vestal Virgins. This fire was officially extinguished and renewed annually on March 1 (originally the Roman new year), and its extinction at any other time, either accidentally or not, was regarded as a portent of disaster to Rome. The temple's innermost sanctuary was not open to the public; once a year, however, on the Vestalia (June 7-15), it was opened to matrons who visited it barefoot.
The days of the festival were unlucky. On the final day occurred the ceremonial sweeping out of the building, and the period of ill omen did not end until the sweepings were officially disposed of by placing them in a particular spot along the Clivus Capitolinus or by throwing them into the Tiber.
In addition to the shrine itself and between it and the Velia stood the magnificent Atrium Vestae. This name originally was given to the whole sacred area comprising the Temple of Vesta, a sacred grove, the Regia (headquarters of the pontifex maximus, or chief priest), and the House of the Vestals, but ordinarily it designated the home or palace of the Vestals.
Vesta is represented as a fully draped woman, sometimes accompanied by her favourite animal, an ass. As goddess of the hearth fire, Vesta was the patron deity of bakers, hence her connection with the ass, usually used for turning the millstone, and her association with Fornax, the spirit of the baker's oven. She is also found allied with the primitive fire deities Cacus and Caca. (source: Britannica.com)
For information on Vestal Virgins see:
sights.seindal.dk/sight/318_Vestal_Virgins.html
(information from this website: sights.seindal.dk/sight/316_Vesta.html)
Vesta is the Roman goddess of the hearth fire. Vesta is one of the most ancient of the Roman deities, and her cult goes back to the 7th century BCE. Tradition will that the cult was instituted by Numa Pompilius.
The cult of Vesta was in the hands of the Vestal Virgins, a special female priesthood. The main public celebration was the Vestalia on June 7th.
Vesta only had one temple in Rome, the circular Temple of Vesta in the Forum Romanum. Inside the round temple burnt the eternal fire, the symbolic hearth of Rome and all the Roman people. If the fire was extinguished it would have grave consequences for the Romans. Also inside the temple, to which only the six vestal virgins had access, were kept the objects that Aeneas was said to have brought with him on his flight from Troy. This included the Palladius (an ancient wooden statue of Minerva), and the images of the Penates.
Vesta was represented by the fire. There was no cult statue in the temple, but Augustus had a statue placed on an altar in his house on the Palatine Hill in 12 BCE.
Other round temples have erroneously been attributed to Vesta by architectural analogy.
(Following information from this website: inanna.virtualave.net/roman.html )
From the earliest times Vesta had a prominent place in both family and state worship. Her worship was observed in every house and her image was sometimes included in the housealtar.
The state worship of Vesta was much more elaborate. Her sanctuary was traditionally a circular building, in imitation of the early Italian round hut and symbolic of the public hearth. The Temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum was of great antiquity and underwent many restorations and rebuildings in both republican and imperial times. There burned the perpetual fire of the public hearth attended by the Vestal Virgins. This fire was officially extinguished and renewed annually on March 1 (originally the Roman new year), and its extinction at any other time, either accidentally or not, was regarded as a portent of disaster to Rome. The temple's innermost sanctuary was not open to the public; once a year, however, on the Vestalia (June 7-15), it was opened to matrons who visited it barefoot.
The days of the festival were unlucky. On the final day occurred the ceremonial sweeping out of the building, and the period of ill omen did not end until the sweepings were officially disposed of by placing them in a particular spot along the Clivus Capitolinus or by throwing them into the Tiber.
In addition to the shrine itself and between it and the Velia stood the magnificent Atrium Vestae. This name originally was given to the whole sacred area comprising the Temple of Vesta, a sacred grove, the Regia (headquarters of the pontifex maximus, or chief priest), and the House of the Vestals, but ordinarily it designated the home or palace of the Vestals.
Vesta is represented as a fully draped woman, sometimes accompanied by her favourite animal, an ass. As goddess of the hearth fire, Vesta was the patron deity of bakers, hence her connection with the ass, usually used for turning the millstone, and her association with Fornax, the spirit of the baker's oven. She is also found allied with the primitive fire deities Cacus and Caca. (source: Britannica.com)
For information on Vestal Virgins see:
sights.seindal.dk/sight/318_Vestal_Virgins.html