Who were the Vestal Virgins, and what was their job?

Who were the Vestal Virgins, and what was their job? - Peta Greenfield

2017-05-30

[public] 9.31M views, 174K likes, dislikes audio only

Travel back to Ancient Rome to find out what life was like for the Vestal Virgins, the priestesses who kept vigil over the flame of Vesta.

In ancient Rome, Vestal Virgins were tasked with keeping vigil over the flame of Vesta, the virgin goddess of the hearth. The flame represented two things: the continuation of Rome as a power in the world and the continuing virginity of Vesta’s priestesses. But what was life really like for these Vestal Virgins? Peta Greenfield goes back in time to find out.

Lesson by Peta Greenfield, animation by Kozmonot Animation Studio.

Support Our Non-Profit Mission

----------------------------------------------

Support us on Patreon: http://bit.ly/TEDEdPatreon

Check out our merch: http://bit.ly/TEDEDShop

----------------------------------------------

Connect With Us

----------------------------------------------

Find us on Twitter: http://bit.ly/TEDEdTwitter

Peep us on Instagram: http://bit.ly/TEDEdInstagram

----------------------------------------------

Keep Learning

----------------------------------------------

View full lesson: http://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-were-the-vestal-virgins-and-what-was-their-job-peta-greenfield

Dig deeper with additional resources: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/who-were-the-vestal-virgins-and-what-was-their-job-peta-greenfield#digdeeper

----------------------------------------------

Check us out on Patreon! Check us out on Patreon!
https://www.patreon.com/teded

Ancient Rome’s most notorious doctor - Ramon Glazov 2,805,651 views
/youtube/video/r1BhsWsmjco

The Romans flooded the Colosseum for sea battles - Janelle Peters 777,017 views
/youtube/video/TB5weRIYhjQ

TED-Ed TED-Ed’s mission is to create lessons worth sharing. Feed and expand your curiosity with our award-winning animated shorts - published on YouTube and available with supplemental learning materials on ed.ted.com. Want to suggest an idea for a TED-Ed animation, nominate an educator or animator? Visit our website at: http://ed.ted.com/get_involved. Consider backing us on Patreon. By doing so, you directly support our nonprofit mission to create free, high-quality educational content: https://www.patreon.com/teded For more information on using TED-Ed content for commercial purposes (e.g. employee learning, in a film, or in an online course), please submit a Media Request using this link: https://media-requests.ted.com/
/youtube/channel/UCsooa4yRKGN_zEE8iknghZA