Vestal Virgin - Terms of Service

Terms of Service

The Vestals were committed to the priesthood before puberty (when 6–10 years old) and sworn to celibacy for a period of 30 years. These 30 years were divided in turn into decade-long periods during which Vestals were respectively students, servants, and teachers. Afterwards, they were retired and replaced by a new inductee. Once retired, a former Vestal was given a pension and allowed to marry. The Pontifex Maximus, acting as the father of the bride, would typically arrange a marriage with a suitable Roman nobleman. A marriage to a former Vestal was highly honored, and – more importantly in ancient Rome – thought to bring good luck, as well as a comfortable pension.

Read more about this topic:  Vestal Virgin

Famous quotes containing the words terms of, terms and/or service:

    Theology—An effort to explain the unknowable by putting it into terms of the not worth knowing.
    —H.L. (Henry Lewis)

    Picture the prince, such as most of them are today: a man ignorant of the law, well-nigh an enemy to his people’s advantage, while intent on his personal convenience, a dedicated voluptuary, a hater of learning, freedom and truth, without a thought for the interests of his country, and measuring everything in terms of his own profit and desires.
    Desiderius Erasmus (c. 1466–1536)

    The Service without Hope
    Is tenderest, I think—
    ...
    There is no Diligence like that
    That knows not an Until—
    Emily Dickinson (1831–1886)