ANCIENT ROME 109
See also: The Olympian gods 24–31 ■ The mad cult of Dionysus 52 ■ Cybele
and Attis 116–17designated her as a patron and
protector of Rome, Cybele was
constantly surrounded by reveling
female followers (Maenads), and
males (Corybantes), who provided
her with musical entertainment.
Cybele invited all the gods
to her party, together with the
satyrs, nymphs, and spirits of the
countryside. These included the
lustful Priapus, who was afflicted
with a permanent, oversized
erection. Priapus’s mother, Venus,
was so ashamed of this deformity
that she abandoned him in the
mountains to be brought up by
shepherds. Priapus became a god
of gardens, bees, and herds. The
party’s final guest was the drunken
satyr Silenus, who came to the
event despite having no invitation.Priapus is denied
The gods ate and drank their fill,
and as the party wound down,
some went strolling on Mount Ida,while some began to dance, and
others lay down on the grass
to sleep off their excesses. Vesta
found a quiet spot by a stream
and fell asleep, unaware that
Priapus lurked nearby. The always-
lecherous Priapus was on the prowl,
looking for a goddess or nymph to
bed. Spying the virgin goddess
Vesta as she lay asleep, he tiptoed
up to her. However, just as Priapus
was about to take Vesta’s virginity,
Silenus’s donkey let out a loud bray
nearby and startled her awake.
The other gods ran to Vesta’s aid,
quickly driving Priapus away.
At his cult center in Lampsacus,
in the northern Troad, the donkey
was Priapus’s sacrificial animal.
During the Vestalia, held every June
in honor of Vesta, loaves of bread
baked in the ash of the Vestal
hearth were hung from donkeys,
and the grindstones they turned
were also garlanded with flowers
in honor of the goddess. ■The Vestal Virgins
The six Vestal Virgins, Rome’s
only female priesthood,
tended the fire of Vesta, the
symbolic hearth of the city
in the Temple of Vesta, in the
Forum. If the fire was ever
allowed to go out, it was
regarded as a bad omen,
and the negligent Vestal was
whipped by the high priest.
The chastity of the Vestals
was essential to the safety of
Rome itself, and any Vestal
who lost her virginity would
be buried alive, with meager
rations of food and water, so
her blood would not be
spilled, and her death
would be by the will of the
underworld gods.
The six priestesses were
chosen in childhood, between
the ages of 6 and 10. They
served for 30 years, after
which they were free to leave
the order, and even to marry, if
they so desired. However,
Vestal Virgins who married
lost their unusual degree of
independence, including
the freedom to make a will.She was the
guardian of the
hearth and of
the Roman
people.The Vestalia,
her festival,
was a sacred
Roman
holiday.She was the
purest of all
gods.Vesta was first worshipped
in Lavinium, Italy, the earliest
Trojan settlement.She was worshipped by the Vestal
Virgins, who maintained the sacred fire
of Vesta at all times.US_108-109_Vesta_and_Priapus.indd 109 01/12/17 4:22 pm