The Temple of Vesta - Roman Fourm

The Temple of Vesta is one of the most important and ancient monuments in Rome. It was built several centuries BC even before the Roman Forum. The ruins of the Temple of Vesta that we can now admire are part of a modern reconstruction of the building.

The temple was built due to the need for a public structure where fire, created at the time by laboriously rubbing flint, could be made readily available to the entire community.

The temple adjoined the House of the Vestals, home to the Vestal priestesses who had to look after and tend to the fire. The Vestals lived in the Atrium Vestae and enjoyed far better rights and privileges than all other Roman women.

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