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Immediately after the Temple of Caesar, the religious area of the Forum begins with the Regia and Temple of Vesta. The Regia was originally the residence of Numa Pompilius, the Second King of Rome, but it later became the place where the highest religious authorities carried out their function
The building housed a shrine to Mars and was the place where
the Pontifex Maximus, the High Priest, kept the archives, the calendar and the
annuals of Rome. You can see just a few columns remaining of the small circular
Temple of Vesta, one of the oldest and most important holy places of Rome. This
was the ancestral hearth of the Roman Nation, the place where the objects that
Aeneas had bought from Troy were kept, and the temple that was guarded by the
Vestal Virgins, the only female priesthood in Rome.
These six maidens were the King's daughters during the archaic era, but were
later chosen from among the daughters of noble families. They entered the temple
at the age of 6 and, with a vow of virginity, remained a priestess for 30 years.
If the vow was broken, the Vestal was buried alive and the man was flogged to
death in front of the Curia.
In exchange for the rigid rules that governed their lives, the Vestal Virgins
enjoyed semi-divine status and many privileges: they were not responsible to
their fathers' control but answered to the Pontifex Maximus alone, they had
financial security and prestige, they traveled about the city in a carriage,
they had reserved seats at shows and performances, they took part in all public
ceremonies and they could be buried inside the city walls.
You can still see the house of the Vestal Virgins just behind the Temple. This
was abandoned only after 394 AD when the Emperor Theodosius abolished the pagan
religion. It was then occupied by officials of the Imperial Court and later by
those of the Papal Court.
