Vestal v: Did you mean...?

In many societies, ancient and modern, religion has performed a major role in their development, and the Roman Empire was no different. From the beginning Roman religion was polytheistic. From an initial array of gods and spirits, Rome added...

The Roman Forum or Forum Romanum of ancient Rome was the bustling religious, administrative, legal, and commercial heart of the city from the 7th century BCE onwards. Made increasingly grandiose and ceremonial in function by the Imperial...

Hestia is the ancient Greek goddess of the hearth and home, and of hospitality so her responsibilities included presiding over the preparation of family meals, baking bread, and entertaining guests. As the goddess of the family hearth and...

The ancient Romans had a rich mythology and, while much of it was derived from their neighbors and predecessors, the Greeks, it still defined the rich history of the Roman people as they eventually grew into an empire. Roman writers such...

The Battle of Actium (2 September 31 BCE, fought in the Ionian Sea off Actium, Greece) was the decisive engagement of the civil war fought between Octavian Caesar (l. 63-14 CE, later known as Augustus, r. 27 BCE - 14 CE) and the forces of...

The 1st century BCE circular temple of Vesta (or Hercules), by the Tiber in Rome. The unusually tall Corinthian columns of Pentelic marble would once have been topped by an entablature. The present roof is a later addition. The building is...

Artist's impression of a Roman woman, dressed as a Priestess of Vesta, performing sacred rites. Invocation by Frederic Leighton, 1st Baron Leighton (1830–1896 CE). Oil on Canvas.

The founding of Rome is a legendary tale about the twins and demigods, Romulus and Remus. In Roman mythology, Romulus and Remus were the sons of Rhea Silvia and either the god Mars or the demigod Hercules. Also, in order to synthesise the...

The lives of ancient Roman women and the exact roles played by them both in ancient Rome and all throughout the ancient world are pretty obscure, due to the focus of both the ancient male writers, and the nineteenth and twentieth-century...

Paulus Orosius (usually given as Orosius, 5th century CE) was a Christian theologian and historian who was also a friend and protege of St. Augustine of Hippo (l. 354-430 CE). He is best known for his work Seven Books of History Against the...