Sexuality in ancient Rome
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Sexual attitudes and behaviors in ancient Rome are indicated by art, literature, and inscriptions, and to a lesser extent by archaeological remains such as erotic artifacts and architecture. It has so
Satyr and nymph, mythological symbols of sexuality for their respective sexes, on a mosaic from a bedroom in Pompeii.
Romantic scene from a mosaic (Villa at Centocelle, Rome, 20 BC–20 AD)
Erotic art in its architectural context at the House of the Centenary, Pompeii
Detail of the painting
Vestal Virgin
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In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame.
Sexuality in ancient Rome
…pairs, to some extent Rome's equivalent to the Twelve Olympians of the Greeks. At least two state priesthoods were held jointly by a married couple. The Vestal Virgins, the one state priesthood reserved for women, took a vow of chastity that granted them relative independence from male control; among the religious…
2nd-century AD Roman statue of a Virgo Vestalis Maxima (National Roman Museum)
House of the Vestals and Temple of Vesta from the Palatine
Relief of the Vestal Virgins at a banquet, found in 1935 near Rome's Via del Corso (Museum of the Ara Pacis)
The most prominent feature of the ruins that were once the Temple of Vesta is the hearth (seen here in the foreground).