Vestal Virgins
...the state more than anyone else in her personal life. Being a virgin must have been a great honor and a reason for pride. To a degree, I am reminded of a nun or a monk – people who abandon their sexuality for what they believe to be a greater cause. In this case, the greater cause is Rome and its image of prestige and honor, not serving God. I think that if a woman did break the rules of chastity, she would feel a large guilt, not unlike the guilt that one would feel in the service of their God. Her goal in life would be to honor her state, not to pleasure herself in the life of mortal man. These woman were of principal, and probably did not have too much of a problem in affairs of love, even once their hormones and sex drives kicked into their fullest. As far as guilt is concerned, I’m reminded again of the tragic wives/women who take their own lives after having been touched by another man (Lucretia). In the case of a Vestal Virgin, the guilt might be even more intense as it may have been her choice, and she may have welcomed the punishment of being buried alive. Of course, I can see that there may have been young girls who did not know what they were getting into at the age of six and the age of ten, and that these severe rules and punishments might not seem so fair to them later on, when they reach an age of understanding and knowledge. I can see these women rebelling and requesting their real lives back. But to me, having the chance to be a Vestal Virgin in the age of Rome seems like something that is too much of an honor to put down, and I cannot truly see too many women being entirely unhappy with it. Last, and definitely not least, these women were considered divinities. What women in her right mind would not want to be a divinity? I would say that most young women in contemporary times wish to be princesses or goddesses at some point in their life, and I would have to say that this must have been the same for young women in ancient Rome, or even in ancient Mesopotamia! Even though these women were forced to live without their knight in shining armor, or prince for that matter, the few that obtained this job must have been more than fulfilled as women. They even lived in a palace. What women woul...