Ovid, Fasti 6.249-468
Vesta, fave! tibi nunc operata resolvimus ora,
ad tua si nobis sacra venire licet.
in prece totus eram: caelestia numina sensi,
laetaque purpurea luce refulsit humus.
non equidem vidi (valeant mendacia vatum)
te, dea, nec fueras aspicienda viro;
sed quae nescieram quorumque errore tenebar 255
cognita sunt nullo praecipiente mihi.
dena quater memorant habuisse Parilia Romam,
cum flammae custos aede recepta dea est,
regis opus placidi, quo non metuentius ullum
numinis ingenium terra Sabina tulit. 260
quae nunc aere vides, stipula tum tecta videres,
et paries lento vimine textus erat.
hic locus exiguus, qui sustinet Atria Vestae,
tunc erat intonsi regia magna Numae;
forma tamen templi, quae nunc manet, ante fuisse 265
dicitur, et formae causa probanda subest.
Vesta eadem est et terra: subest vigil ignis utrique:
significant sedem terra focusque suam.
terra pilae similis, nullo fulcimine nixa,
aëre subiecto tam grave pendet onus. 270
ipsa volubilitas libratum sustinet orbem,
quique premat partes, angulus omnis abest,
cumque sit in media rerum regione locata
et tangat nullum plusve minusve latus,
ni convexa foret, parti vicinior esset, 275
nec medium terram mundus haberet onus.
arte Syracosia suspensus in aere clauso
stat globus, immensi parva figura poli,
et quantum a summis, tantum secessit ab imis
terra; quod ut fiat, forma rotunda facit. 280
par facies templi: nullus procurrit in illo
angulus; a pluvio vindicat imbre tholus.
cur sit virginibus, quaeris, dea culta ministris?
inveniam causas hac quoque parte suas.
ex Ope Iunonem memorant Cereremque creatas 285
semine Saturni, tertia Vesta fuit.
utraque nupserunt, ambae peperisse feruntur,
de tribus impatiens restitit una viri.
quid mirum, virgo si virgine laeta ministra
admittit castas ad sua sacra manus? 290
nec tu aliud Vestam quam vivam intellege flammam,
nataque de flamma corpora nulla vides.
iure igitur virgo est, quae semina nulla remittit
nec capit, et comites virginitatis amat.
esse diu stultus Vestae simulacra putavi, 295
mox didici curvo nulla subesse tholo.
ignis inexstinctus templo celatur in illo,
effigiem nullam Vesta nec ignis habet.
stat vi terra sua: vi stando Vesta vocatur,
causaque par Grai nominis esse potest. 300
at focus a flammis et quod fovet omnia, dictus;
qui tamen in primis aedibus ante fuit.
hinc quoque vestibulum dici reor: inde precando
praefamur Vestam, quae loca prima tenet.
Ante focos olim scamnis considere longis 305
mos erat, et mensae credere adesse deos;
nunc quoque, cum fiunt antiquae sacra Vacunae,
ante Vacunales stantque sedentque focos.
venit in hos annos aliquid de more vetusto:
fert missos Vestae pura patella cibos. 310
Ecce coronatis panis dependet asellis,
et velant scabras florida serta molas.
sola prius furnis torrebant farra coloni
(et Fornacali sunt sua sacra deae):
suppositum cineri panem focus ipse parabat, 315
strataque erat tepido tegula quassa solo.
inde focum observat pistor dominamque focorum
et quae pumiceas versat asella molas.
praeteream referamne tuum, rubicunde Priape,
dedecus? est multi fabula parva ioci. 320
turrigera frontem Cybele redimita corona
convocat aeternos ad sua festa deos.
convocat et satyros et, rustica numina, nymphas;
Silenus, quamvis nemo vocarat, adest.
nec licet et longum est epulas narrare deorum: 325
in multo nox est pervigilata mero.
hi temere errabant in opacae vallibus Idae,
pars iacet et molli gramine membra levat;
hi ludunt, hos somnus habet; pars bracchia nectit
et viridem celeri ter pede pulsat humum. 330
Vesta iacet placidamque capit secura quietem,
sicut erat, positum caespite fulta caput.
at ruber hortorum custos nymphasque deasque
captat et errantes fertque refertque pedes.
aspicit et Vestam: dubium, nymphamne putarit 335
an scierit Vestam, scisse sed ipse negat.
spem capit obscenam furtimque accedere temptat
et fert suspensos corde micante gradus.
forte senex, quo vectus erat, Silenus asellum
liquerat ad ripas lene sonantis aquae. 340
ibat, ut inciperet, longi deus Hellesponti,
intempestivo cum rudit ille sono.
territa voce gravi surgit dea; convolat omnis
turba, per infestas effugit ille manus.
Lampsacos hoc animal solita est mactare Priapo, 345
'apta' canens 'flammis indicis exta damus.'
quem tu, diva, memor de pane monilibus ornas;
cessat opus, vacuae conticuere molae.
Nomine quam pretio celebratior arce Tonantis
dicam, Pistoris quid velit ara Iovis. 350
cincta premebantur trucibus Capitolia Gallis:
fecerat obsidio iam diuturna famem.
Iuppiter, ad solium superis regale vocatis
'incipe!' ait Marti. protinus ille refert:
'scilicet ignotum est, quae sit fortuna meorum, 355
et dolor hic animi voce querentis eget.
si tamen ut referam breviter mala iuncta pudori,
exigis: Alpino Roma sub hoste iacet.
haec est, cui fuerat promissa potentia rerum,
Iuppiter? hanc terris impositurus eras? 360
iamque suburbanos Etruscaque contudit arma,
spes erat in cursu: nunc lare pulsa suo est.
vidimus ornatos aerata per atria picta
veste triumphales occubuisse senes:
vidimus Iliacae transferri pignora Vestae 365
sede: putant aliquos scilicet esse deos.
at si respicerent, qua vos habitatis in arce,
totque domos vestras obsidione premi,
nil opis in cura scirent superesse deorum
et data sollicita tura perire manu. 370
atque utinam pugnae pateat locus! arma capessant
et, si non poterunt exsuperare, cadant.
nunc inopes victus ignavaque fata timentes
monte suo clausos barbara turba premit.'
tunc Venus et lituo pulcher trabeaque Quirinus 375
Vestaque pro Latio multa locuta suo est.
'publica' respondit 'cura est pro moenibus istis'
Iuppiter 'et poenas Gallia victa dabit.
tu modo, quae desunt fruges, superesse putentur
effice, nec sedes desere, Vesta, tuas. 380
quodcumque est solidae Cereris, cava machina frangat,
mollitamque manu duret in igne focus.'
iusserat, et fratris virgo Saturnia iussis
adnuit, et mediae tempora noctis erant.
iam ducibus somnum dederat labor: increpat illos 385
Iuppiter et sacro, quid velit, ore docet:
'surgite et in medios de summis arcibus hostes
mittite, quam minime tradere voltis, opem!'
somnus abit, quaeruntque novis ambagibus acti,
tradere quam nolint et iubeantur opem. 390
esse Ceres visa est; iaciunt Cerialia dona,
iacta super galeas scutaque longa sonant.
posse fame vinci spes excidit. hoste repulso
candida Pistori ponitur ara Iovi.
Forte revertebar festis Vestalibus illa, 395
quae Nova Romano nunc Via iuncta foro est.
huc pede matronam vidi descendere nudo:
obstipui tacitus sustinuique gradum.
sensit anus vicina loci, iussumque sedere
adloquitur, quatiens voce tremente caput: 400
'hoc, ubi nunc fora sunt, udae tenuere paludes;
amne redundatis fossa madebat aquis.
Curtius ille lacus, siccas qui sustinet aras,
nunc solida est tellus, sed lacus ante fuit.
qua Velabra solent in Circum ducere pompas, 405
nil praeter salices cassaque canna fuit;
saepe suburbanas rediens conviva per undas
cantat et ad nautas ebria verba iacit.
nondum conveniens diversis iste figuris
nomen ab averso ceperat amne deus. 410
hic quoque lucus erat iuncis et harundine densus
et pede velato non adeunda palus.
stagna recesserunt et aquas sua ripa coercet,
siccaque nunc tellus: mos tamen ille manet.'
reddiderat causam. 'valeas, anus optima!' dixi 415
'quod superest aevi, molle sit omne, tui.'
Cetera iam pridem didici puerilibus annis,
non tamen idcirco praetereunda mihi.
moenia Dardanides nuper nova fecerat Ilus
(Ilus adhuc Asiae dives habebat opes): 420
creditur armiferae signum caeleste Minervae
urbis in Iliacae desiluisse iuga.
cura videre fuit, vidi templumque locumque:
hoc superest illic, Pallada Roma tenet.
consulitur Smintheus, lucoque obscurus opaco 425
hos non mentito reddidit ore sonos:
'aetheriam servate deam, servabitis urbem:
imperium secum transferet illa loci.'
servat et inclusam summa tenet Ilus in arce,
curaque ad heredem Laomedonta redit. 430
sub Priamo servata parum: sic ipsa volebat,
ex quo iudicio forma revicta sua est.
seu genus Adrasti, seu furtis aptus Ulixes,
seu fuit Aeneas, eripuisse ferunt;
auctor in incerto, res est Romana: tuetur 435
Vesta, quod assiduo lumine cuncta videt.
heu quantum timuere patres, quo tempore Vesta
arsit et est tectis obruta paene suis!
flagrabant sancti sceleratis ignibus ignes,
mixtaque erat flammae flamma profana piae. 440
attonitae flebant demisso crine ministrae:
abstulerat vires corporis ipse timor.
provolat in medium, et magna 'succurrite!' voce,
'non est auxilium flere' Metellus ait.
'pignora virgineis fatalia tollite palmis: 445
non ea sunt voto, sed rapienda manu.
me miserum! dubitatis?' ait. dubitare videbat
et pavidas posito procubuisse genu.
haurit aquas tollensque manus, 'ignoscite', dixit
'sacra! vir intrabo non adeunda viro. 450
si scelus est, in me commissi poena redundet:
sit capitis damno Roma soluta mei.'
dixit, et irrupit: factum dea rapta probavit
pontificisque sui munere tuta fuit.
nunc bene lucetis sacrae sub Caesare flammae: 455
ignis in Iliacis nunc erit estque focis,
nullaque dicetur vittas temerasse sacerdos
hoc duce nec viva defodietur humo.
sic incesta perit, quia quam violavit, in illam
conditur: est Tellus Vestaque numen idem. 460
Tum sibi Callaico Brutus cognomen ab hoste
fecit et Hispanam sanguine tinxit humum.
scilicet interdum miscentur tristia laetis,
ne populum toto pectore festa iuvent:
Crassus ad Euphraten aquilas natumque suosque 465
perdidit et leto est ultimus ipse datus.
'Parthe, quid exsultas?' dixit dea 'signa remittes,
quique necem Crassi vindicet, ultor erit.'
Vesta, favor me: now I’ll open the mouth devoted to you,
If it’s permitted for us to come to your sacred temple. [1]
I was entirely in prayer: I felt the celestial numen, [2]
The ground glittered with joyful glowing light.
I didn’t actually see you, Goddess - farewell to poets’ lies -
It wasn’t possible for a man to look upon you;
But what I hadn’t known, and the things by whose error I was held, [3]
Came to be known with no one [4] advising me.
They recall that the Parilia had been held in Rome forty times [5]
When the guardian of the flame, the Goddess, was received in [her] temple
The work of a gentle king, the Sabine land held no other mind
More fearful of divine power than he. [6]
The bronze which you now see, at that time you would have seen straw roofs,
And the wall was woven from pliant twigs.
This little spot, which [now] sustains the Atria [7] of Vesta,
Back then it was the great palace of unshorn Numa;
Nevertheless the form of they temple, which now remains, is said to have been [there] before,
And the reason for the form ought to be praised. [8]
Vesta and the earth are the same: a watchful fire is within each:
The earth and the hearth signify her seat.
The earth is like a ball, propping itself up on no support,
It hangs such a heavy weight on compressed air:
The rapid spinning itself holds up the poised globe,
There isn’t an angle that presses on anything. [9]
And since it is located in the middle of things,
It touches no side more or less [than any other],
[For] if it weren’t convex, it would be nearer to one part,
Nor would the universe have the earth as a burden in the middle.
There’s a globe suspended by Syracusan art [10] in air [that’s been] closed off
A small model of the boundless heavens,
And as much as the earth withdraws from the heights so much so it does from the depths;
It is this way because the round form makes it this way.
The face of the temple is just like that; no angle
Runs across it, a dome [11] protects it from rain showers.
Why, you ask, should the goddess be attended by virgin ministers?
Allow me to find their causes in this matter [12] also.
They recall that Juno and Ceres were created from Ops [13] by the seed of Saturn; Vesta was the third.
Each of the [first] two had married, both had been brought to bear [children];
Of the three, one remained intolerant of a husband.
Is it really all that surprising, if a virgin, rejoicing in a virgin attendant,
Admits chaste hands to her sacred temple?
And don’t you go thinking that Vesta is anything other than a living flame; [14]
And you see that no bodies are born of flame.
Rightly therefore she is a virgin, who sent back no seed, nor did she take any,
And she loves the comrades of her virginity. [15]
I thought for a long time - because I’m an idiot - that there were images of Vesta,
Soon I learned there were none under the curved dome. [16]
An unextinguished flame is hidden in that temple:
Vesta has no effigy, nor does the flame.
The earth stands fixed by its own power: Vesta is called by a fixed power;
And the cause of her Greek name could be [17] the same.
But the hearth is so called by the flames and because it warms all;
Which nevertheless was in the old days in the first [18] apartments.
I think it’s from this that the vestibulum gets its name;
And it’s from this [also] when we’re praying:
We say an opening prayer to Vesta, who holds the premier place. [19]
Back in the day it was customary to gather on long benches by the hearths,
And to think that the gods were there at the table;
And even today, when they make sacrifices to ancient Vacuna, [20]
The Vacunales stand and sit by the hearth fires. [21]
There comes in these years something of the ancient custom:
A purified patella [22] bears food presented to Vesta.
Behold, bread hangs from dolled-up donkeys,
And flowering garlands cover rough millstones. [23]
Tillers used to just toast spelt in ovens
And the Fornacalia [24] are the rites particular to the goddess:
[lines 315-468 forthcoming]
Notes:
sacra, literally “sacred things,” but usually referring specifically to a temple or to sacred rites.
This word is really difficult to translate. It means something like “divine power and will,” describing the awe and reverence due to divinity and an acknowledgement of the superhuman power of the gods, but it’s almost an intangible quality that the gods have.
Literally, “by the error of which I was held,” but in sense, “the mistaken [beliefs] I was clinging to.”
Or “nothing.”
A poetic way to mark time. The Parilia was an annual festival, so Ovid here is saying, “when Rome was 40 years old.”
Numa Pompilius, Rome’s second king, was famously pious and is credited with establishing a lot of Rome’s religious customs.
Front halls, foyers
The temple of Vesta in the Roman Forum was cylindrical with a domed roof, modeled after early Roman round houses and/or possibly the structure of the universe (as Ovid suggests in this passage). All temples to Vesta had their entrance towards the east and the rising sun (Vesta’s connection to fire).
This line is super convoluted. Literally it says, “every angle is away that presses whichever parts.”
A model made by Archimedes
tholus, cognate with Greek θόλος
Literally “part”
Lewis and Short: “the goddess of plenty, riches, and power, the wife of Saturn, and the patroness of husbandry; identical with Terra.” Her name is identical to the noun ops, which means “resources, riches, abundance,” and so on.
[Don’t understand her as anything else]
Like Diana, who had a close relationship with her fellow forest-dwelling maidens.
Of the temple. Yet I like this line as ambiguous - there aren’t any images of Vesta under earth’s dome at all. In reality, a few do exist, but Ovid here seems to be referring to the fact that Vesta is rarely depicted in human form.
A liberal translation of the indicative. You could also say, “And it’s possible that the cause of her Greek name is the same.”
Spatial: the apartments/rooms at the fronts of houses/temples.
Compare this to the Homeric Hymn to Hestia 29.
A Sabine goddess whose worship is very old. I want this to be a bit of a joke - “even today, when we do this antiquated thing that no one does anymore,” but that’s just a feeling. I have no evidence lol.
Note the position of ante focos in this line (308) as compared to 305. I think Ovid is playing tricks here, willing us to take ante as part of the antiquarianism of Vacuna’s worship, until we get the clarification from focos at the end of the line.
patella, a small offering dish. I translate pura as “purified” rather than simply “pure” because I want to get the sense of ritual in here. The patella isn’t innately pure, but must undergo ritual purification like pretty much everything else in ceremonial religion and magic.
These two lines are now describing the activities of the Vestalia, the actual subject of the poem.
A nearly two-week annual festival celebrating the deified ovens.
