Sacred fire of Vesta
Location | Regione VIII Forum Romanum |
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Coordinates | 41°53′30″N 12°29′10″E / 41.891742°N 12.486176°E |
The sacred fire of Vesta was a sacred
The fire was renewed every year on the
If it (the fire) happens by any accident to be put out ... it is not to be lighted again from another fire, but new fire is to be gained by drawing a pure and unpolluted flame from the sunbeams. They kindle it generally with concave vessels of brass, formed by hollowing out an isosceles rectangular triangle, whose lines from the circumference meet in one single point. This being placed against the sun, causes its rays to converge in the centre, which, by reflection, acquiring the force and activity of fire, rarefy the air, and immediately kindle such light and dry matter as they think fit to apply. (tr. Langhorne 1821 1: 195)
Allowing the sacred fire to die out was a serious dereliction of duty; it suggested that the goddess had withdrawn her protection from the city. Vestals guilty of this offence were punished by a scourging or a beating.[1]
The sacred fire burned in
The presence of a sacred fire was attributed to the legendary Roman king Numa Pompilius in the 7th century BC.[2] It is known to have ended in 391 when Emperor Theodosius I banned pagan worship and had the flame extinguished.[3]
References
Further reading
- Altheim, Franz (tr. Harold Mattingly): A History of Roman Religion (London: Methuen & Co., Ltd., 1938)
- Fowler, W. WardeThe Roman Festivals of the Period of the Republic: An Introduction to the Study of the Religion of the Romans (London: Macmillan & Co., 1899)
- Middleton, John Henry (1911). . In Chisholm, Hugh (ed.). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 27 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. pp. 1054–1056.
- Platner, Samuel Ball (as completed and revised by Thomas Ashby): A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome (London: Oxford University Press, 1929) (e-text)
- Rose, H. J.: Religion in Greece and Rome (NY: Harper & Row, 1959)