House of the Vestal Virgins

Many a monastic convent in today's world would find its prototype in the House of the Vestal Virgins. Within its circular temple burned the undying flame, symbol of the domestic hearth and of the family. The house was completely self-contained. Around the open courtyard ran two covered galleries in which opened doors and windows to the rooms where the priestesses lived. The Vestal Virgins entered as novices between the ages of six and ten, and remained for thirty years under vows of strict chastity. The penalty of breaking the vow was a Draconian one...burial alive.

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Humanities Resource of Mark Hunter