Editing Vesta (mythology) (section)

==History==
===Origin===
According to tradition, worship of Vesta in Italy began in [[Lavinium]], the mother-city of [[Alba Longa]] and the first settlement by the Trojan refugees after their flight from Troy's destruction, led there by [[Aeneas]] and guided by [[Venus (mythology)|Venus]]. It was believed that from Lavinium, the worship of Vesta was transferred to Alba Longa, a belief evident in the custom of Roman magistrates going to Lavinium, when appointed to higher office, and offering sacrifice both to Vesta and the [[Household deity|household gods]] of the Roman state known as [[Penates]], whose images were kept in Vesta's temple. Alongside those household gods was Vesta, whom the Roman poet refers to as ''Vesta Iliaca'' ("Vesta of [[Troy|Ilium/Troy]]").<ref>{{cite book |author=[[Ovid]] |title=Fasti |title-link=Fasti (poem) |at=vi. 265 }}</ref> Vesta's sacred hearth was also named ''Iliaci foci'' ("hearth of [[Troy|Ilium/Troy]]").{{sfnp|Noehden|1817|p=214}}

Worship of Vesta, like the worship of many gods, originated in the home, but in Roman historical tradition, it became an established cult of state during the reign of either [[Romulus]],<ref>
{{harvp|Beard|North|Price|1998a|loc=vol&nbsp;1,  pp&nbsp;189–190, note&nbsp;77 }} which cites:
: {{cite book |author=[[Plutarch]] |title=Life of Romulus |at=22 }}
: {{cite book |author=[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] |title=[[Roman Antiquities]] |at=II.64.5–69 }}
</ref> or [[Numa Pompilius]]<ref>
{{harvp|Beard|North|Price|1998a||loc=vol&nbsp;1, pp&nbsp;189–190, note&nbsp;77 }} which cites:
: {{cite book |author=[[Virgil]] |title=[[Aeneid]] |at=II.296, 597 }}
: {{cite book |author=[[Ovid]] |title=Fasti |title-link=Fasti (poem) |at=I.527-528, III.29, VI.227 }}
: {{cite book |author=[[Ovid]] |title=[[Metamorphoses]] |at=XV.730 }}
: {{cite book |author=[[Propertius]] |title=Elegiae |at=IV.4.69 }}
: {{cite book |author=[[Dionysius of Halicarnassus]] |title=[[Roman Antiquities]] |at=II.65.2 }}
</ref> (sources disagree, but most say Numa).{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=20}} The priestesses of Vesta, known as [[Vestal Virgins]], administered her temple and sustained its sacred fire. The existence of Vestal Virgins in Alba Longa is connected with early Roman traditions, for the mother of Romulus and Remus, [[Rhea Silvia]], was a priestess of Vesta, impregnated by either [[Mars (mythology)|Mars]] or [[Hercules]].<ref>{{cite book |editor-first=W. |editor-last=Smith |editor-link=William Smith (lexicographer) |year=1890 |orig-year=1842 |section=Vestales |title=[[A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities]] |place=London, UK |publisher= |section-url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0063:id=vestales-cn |access-date=4 May 2015 |via=perseus.tufts.edu }}</ref>

===Roman Empire===
Roman tradition required that the leading priest of the Roman state, the ''[[pontifex maximus]]'' reside in a ''domus publicus'' ("publicly owned house"). After assuming the office of ''pontifex maximus'' in 12&nbsp;BC, [[Augustus]] gave part of his private house to the Vestals as public property and incorporated a new shrine of Vesta within it. The old shrine remained in the ''[[Forum Romanum]]'''s temple of Vesta, but Augustus' gift linked the public hearth of the state with the official home of the ''pontifex maximus'' and the emperor's [[Palatine Hill|Palatine]] residence. This strengthened the connection between the office of ''pontifex maximus'' and the cult of Vesta. Henceforth, the office of ''pontifex maximus'' was tied to the title of emperor;{{sfn|Johnston|2004|p=307}}<ref>{{harvnb|Beard|North|Price|1998a|pp=189–190}} vol. 1</ref> Emperors were automatically priests of Vesta, and the ''pontifices'' were sometimes referred to as ''pontifices Vestae'' ("priests of Vesta").<ref>{{harvnb|Beard|North|Price|1998a|p=191}} vol. 1</ref> In 12&nbsp;BC, 28 April (first of the five day ''[[Floralia]]'') was chosen ''ex [[senatus consultum]]'' to commemorate the new shrine of Vesta in Augustus' home on the Palatine.<ref>Degrassi (1963) 66; 133; [[Ovid]], ''Fasti'' 4.943-54</ref>{{sfn|Herbert-Brown|1994|p=75}} The latter's hearth was the focus of the Imperial household's traditional religious observances. Various emperors led official revivals and promotions of the Vestals' cult, which in its various locations remained central to Rome's ancient traditional cults into the 4th century. Dedications in the Atrium of Vesta, dating predominantly AD 200 to 300, attest to the service of several ''Virgines Vestales Maxime''.{{sfn|Salzman|1990|pp=157–160}} Vesta's worship began to decline with the rise of [[Christianity]]. In ca. 379, [[Gratian]] stepped down as ''pontifex maximus'';{{sfn|Johnston|2004|p=307}} in 382 he confiscated the ''Atrium Vestae''{{sfn|Williams|2008|p=20}} and simultaneously withdrew its public funding.{{sfn|Salzman|1990|pp=157–160}} In 391, despite official and public protests, [[Theodosius I]] closed the temple, and extinguished the sacred flame.{{sfn|Watkin|2009|p=92}} Finally, [[Coelia Concordia]] stepped down as the last ''Vestalis Maxima'' ("chief Vestal") in 394.{{sfn|Lefkowitz|Fant|2005|p=306}}