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Myths about the Roman Goddess Vesta
Numa Pompilius, the great founder of
religion among the Romans, is said first to have restored
the ancient rites and worship of this goddess, to whom he
erected a circular temple, which in succeeding ages was not
only much embellished, but also, as the earth was supposed
to retain a constant fire within, a perpetual fire was kept
up in the temple of Vesta, the care of which was entrusted
to a select number of young females appointed from the first
families in Rome, and called Vestal virgins.
As this Vesta was the goddess of fire, the Romans had no
images of her in her temple; the reason for which, assigned
by Ovid, is that fire has no representative, as no
bodies are produced from it: yet as Vesta was the
guardian of houses or hearths, her image was usually placed
in the porch or entry, and daily sacrifices were offered up
to her. It is certain nothing could be a stronger or more
lively symbol of the supreme being than fire; accordingly we
find this emblem in early use throughout the east. The
Romans looked upon Vesta as one of the protective and supervisory deities of
their empire; and they so far made the safety and fate of
Rome depend on the preservation of the sacred fire in the
temple of Vesta, that they thought the extinction of it
foreboded the most terrible misfortune.
Myths about the Roman Goddess Vesta
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