V E S 



V E S 



T»erc erefted wtic called vellihula, from Vcfla. Thi.s goddc■l^. 

 was a virgin, and fo great an admirer of virginity, that 

 when Jupiter lier brother gave her leave to alk what Ihc 

 would, Ihc btfought that flu- might always be a virgin, and 

 have the firil oblations in all lacrilicCii. 



This goddefs is called by Horace aterna Vejia, and it was 

 in honour of her that Nnnia erefted a temple at Rome, and 

 dedicated virgins to keep a perpetual fire upon her altars, 

 " ut ad fimulacr\im cceleftium fiderum cuftos imperii flamma 

 vigilaret," as Florus fays. One way of reprcfenting this 

 goddefs, it is faid, was in the habit of a matron, holding in 

 her right hand a flambeau or lamp, and fometimes a Palla- 

 dium, or fmall Vitlory. Mr. Spence, however, doubts, 

 whether the figures, that are generally looked upon as 

 Veftas, do really reprefent that goddefs or not. There is 

 nothing, he fays, which he has feen, that would not be as 

 proper for one of the veftal virgins, as for the goddefs who 

 pref:ded over them. To this purpofe Ovid exprefsly fays 

 (Fail. vi. ver. 29S. 1 they had no reprefentations of this god- 

 defs : " effigiem nullam Vella nee ignis habent." And he 

 explains away another paffage in the third book of his Fnfti, 

 ver. 46. where he fpeaks of a figure of Veila. (Polymetis, 

 p. 82.) The titles that are given to Vefta upon medals and 

 ancient monuments are, Vefta the Happy, the Mother, the 

 Saint, the Eternal, &c. The worfliip oi Vefta and of fire 

 was brought from Phrygia into Italy by ^neas and the 

 other Trojans who reforted thither. To this purpofe Virgil 

 obfervcs (^n. lib. ii.) that jEneas, before he left the palace 

 of his father, had taken away the fire from the facred heartli: 

 " jEternumque adytis efFert penetralibus ignem." 



Vefta was one of the eight great gods of the Egyptians, 

 often mentioned by Herodotus. 



The name Vefta, called by the Greeks eVi'^, was fynoni- 

 mous with the Chalda;an and Perfian Avejla; and hence, 

 according to the learned Hyde, Zoroafter gave to his famous 

 book on the worfhip of fire, the name of Avejla, or Abejla, 

 i. f. the cuftody of fire. 



VESTALIA, feafts held in honour of the goddefs 

 Vefta, on the fifth of the ides of June ; ;'. e. on the ninth 

 day of that month. 



On that day, banquets were made before the houfes ; and 

 meats were fent to the Veftals, to be offered by them to the 

 goddefs. See Vestals. 



The affcs, that turned the mills for grinding corn, were, 

 on this occafion, led about the city, crowned with flowers, 

 and chaplets formed of pieces of bread ; and the mill-ftones 

 were likewife decked with garlands and crowns. 



The ladies went barefooted in procellion to the temple of 

 Vefta ; and an altar was eredted to Jupiter ihi; Baker, Jovi 

 Ptjlori, in the Capitol. 



The Veftalia had their names from that of their goddefs 

 Vefta. 



VESTALS, Vesta i-ns, in /Intiquily, virgins in ancient 

 Rome, confecrated to the fervice of the goddefs Vefta ; and 

 particularly to watch the facred fire in her temple. 



Numa firft inftituted four Veftals ; and Plutarch tells us, 

 Scrvius TiiUuis added two more; but Dionyfius Halicar- 

 tiaft"us and Valerius Maximus afcrihe this augmentation to 

 Tarquiniiis Prifcus ; which number, fix, lafted as long as 

 the worfhip of the goddefs Vefta. The Veftals made a vow 

 of perpetual virginity ; their employment was, the facrific- 

 ing to Vefta, and keeping up the holv fire in her temple. 

 If they violated the vows of chaftity, they were punifhed 

 with remarkable feverity ; being fttut up, or burici., in a 

 deep pit, or cavern, in a place called " agger et fceleratiis 

 campus," with a lighted lamp, and a little water and milk, 

 and there left to be devoured by hunger. If they let out 



liie fire, they were whipped by the pontifex maximus ; and 

 the fire was rekindled by the fun-beams. It is faid, that 

 they always lighted it anew on the firft of March in every 

 year, whether it had gone out or not. 



To be fecure of their virginity, at their admiflion, it was 

 provided, that they fliould not be under fix, nor above ten 

 years old. They were chofen by lot, out of twenty virgins, 

 carried by the pontiff to the comitia, for that purpofe. 



They were only confecrated for thirty years ; after which 

 time they were at liberty to go out, and be married. If 

 they continued in the houfe after that time, they were only 

 to be affntants, in point of advice, to the other Veftals. 



The firft ten years they were to employ in learning their 

 fVinftions ; the ten following they were to cxercife them ; 

 and the laft ten, to teach them to others. 



Their order was very ricli ; both on account of the en- 

 dowments of the emperors, and of legacies of other perfons. 



The Veftals had a particular place allotted them at the 

 amphitheatres and games of the Circus. Their vehicle was 

 the carpentum, or pilentum. The veil in which they facri- 

 ficed was C3.\\c A fiiffiluhm. 



At firft; lliey were nominated by the kings ; but after the 

 extinction of monarchy, by the pontifex maximus, or high- 

 prieft. The eldeft of them was called maxima, as the firft 

 pontiff was maximm. 



They had divers privileges ; difpofed of their effefts by 

 teftament, in their father's life -time ; had the fame gratifi- 

 cation as a mother of three children ; and whenever they 

 met a criminal going to execution, they had a power to 

 pardon him. Whenever they went abroad, they had the 

 fafces carried before them, a conful, or the prsetor, being 

 obliged to give way to them. 



The fire which the Veftals were to watch, was not on an 

 altar, or an hearth, but in little earthen veffels with two 

 handles, called capeduncula. 



This fire was held a pledge of the empire of the world. 

 If it went out, it was judged a very unlucky prognoftic, 

 and was to be expiated with infinite ceremonies. Among 

 the Romans, Feftus tells us, it was only to be rekindled by 

 the rubbing a kind of wood, proper for the purpofe. But 

 among the Greeks, Plutarch, in the life of Numa, obferves, 

 it was to be rekindled by cxpofing fome inflammable matter 

 in the centre of a concave veffel held to the fun. For it is 

 to be noted, the Romans were not the only people who 

 kept the perpetual fire of Vefta, in imitation of the celef- 

 tial fires ; but the Greeks were poffeffed with the fame fu- 

 perftition ; particularly the Delphians, Athenians, Tene- 

 dians, Argives, Rhodians, Cyzicenians, Milefians, Ephe- 

 fians, &c. 



This order of Veftals is faid to have fubfifted about a 

 thonfand years, ('. e. from the time of Numa to that of the 

 emperor Theodofius. See SiBvi.s. 



Vf.stai.s Ferry, in Geography, a town of Virginia, on 

 the Sheiinando ; 18 miles N.W. of Leefburg. 



VESTED Lkoacy. See Contingent Legacy. 



ViiSTED Remainder. See Remainoer. 



VESTIARIUS, Vestiakv, in Antiquity, mafter of the 

 wardrobe ; an officer under the Greek empire, who had the 

 care and direftion of the emperor's apparel, robes, &c. 



TUa, proto-ve/liariut, or firft veftiary, was the grandniaftcr 

 of the wardrobe. But among the Romans, ve/liariui fimply 

 was only a falefman, or taylor. 



VESTIBULE, Vestibumim, in tlie Ancient Architec- 

 turj, a large open fpace before the door, or entrance, of a 

 houfe. 



Martinius derives the word from vejltt Jlabulum ; bccaufc 

 the fore-part of the houfe was dedicated to Vefta. Davilcr 



ccnvcs 



