History Commons^™

Vestal Virgins Of Rome: Images Of Power, Melissa Huang, Amanda Coles, Faculty Advisor

John Wesley Powell Student Research Conference

From humble beginnings, the Vestal Virgins were able to create a foothold in political life through the turbulence of the transition from Republic to Principate. In part due to the violent and perilous transition, the Vestal Virgins of Rome began to represent a sense of what it meant to be Roman. The manifestation of the symbolization of Rome gave the Vestals great power, which they expressed in political and social venues. In order to describe these expressions, this presentation explains the religious and social roles of the Vestals established before the Late Republic. This is necessary because most of the …