The Roman Forum - Continued
November 19, 2007
The Roman Forum, in and of itself, will take a couple hours to absorb all the buildings.
There are many temples here.
These women, vowing to 30 years of chastity, had many privileges that the typical Roman
woman did not. They could handle their own property, write legally binding testaments,
had special front row seats in the games (ladies were normally relegated to seats in the
back), and even move around the city in a carriage. If a person who was sentenced to death
met a vestal virgin en route to his execution, he was automatically pardoned. It was highly
prestigious for a man to marry a former vestal virgin after her 30 year vows were completed.
However, if any Vestal Virgin ever broke her vow of 30 years of chastity, she was buried alive. For
it was law that the blood of a Vestal Virgin could not be shed. The lover of the Vestal Virgin was
flogged to death for causing her to break her vow of chastity.
The House of Vestal is near the Temple of Vesta (below).
Personally, I could spend days exploring the ruins in the Roman Forum and on the overlooking Palatine Hill.
The Temple of Antoninus and Faustina
Go to page 9 - The Roman Forum - Via Sacra.
Go to page 11- The Roman Forum seen from higher point.
Jump ahead 10 pages to Page 20 - St. Peter's Basilica.