Temple of Vesta

Temple of Vesta

Located at the East end of the Forum (Pleiades), the temple of Vesta, or Templum Vesta, was the site of the sacred fire to which the Vestal virgins tended to. Vesta is the goddess of the domestic hearth. She is part of the oldest circle of gods and goddesses. The temple was made during the Republic. The Vestal Virgins were a “cult” that was respected by the community. At the first of every march, the new year’s day of the oldest Roman year, the fire that they tended to would renew. The temple was damaged in fires several times, including B.C. 410 and 241. After the fire of A.D. 191, it was restored by Septimius Severus and his wife Julia Domna. The temple was originally made out of plaited reeds and had a straw roof to imitate the ancient hut of a Roman peasant, which made it easy to burn. Later during the empire, the temple was made out of stone and metal and it still had some burning incidents (Lacus Curtius). The featured Corinthian columns were separated by metal grates (Lacus Curtius). Extra steps were put in the front of the building for emphasis (Kleiner, p.8). These steps led up to a small, decorative space that surrounded the cella called the portico. After the final restoration in A.D. 191, the Temple of Vesta was closed in A.D. 394 by Theodosius. A modern example of a structure like this is a church dedicated to a certain saint, person, or a shrine. These examples bring religion into public places in the city or town and making the religion or person represented a part of everyday life in some aspect or another.

Maddy Collins