Composed of six ladies from aristocratic historic Roman households, the Vestal Virgins had been priestesses devoted to praising Vesta, the goddess of household and home life. Picked for his or her lineage and good well being, their lives revolved round ritual acts of worship. A very powerful of those duties was protecting the fireplace on the Temple of Vesta, believed to symbolise each the chastity of those ladies and the flourishing of the Roman Empire, burning in perpetuity. And, as this quick from TED-Ed explores, if the flame went out at any time, a Vestal Virgin might be accused of impurity and put to loss of life in a harrowing ceremony of sacrifice. With vivid animations bringing the world of the Vestal Virgins into focus, the quick offers a small window into gender and spirituality in historic Rome, highlighting the methods through which faith and state had been intrinsically linked.
