Temple+of+Vesta

=__Temple of Vesta__= The Temple of Vesta (known as "Aedes Vestae" in Latin) is a religious structure dedicated to the goddess of hearth and home, Vesta. The temple was located in Regione VIII Forum Romanum. Its construction consisted of a circular base, 20 Corinthian columns on a podium 15 meters in diameter, a central cella, and a vent in the roof for smoke. The structure was made almost entirely of marble. In the center of the structure, inside the cella, was a large fire that was kept alight by the Vestal Virgins. The fire represented the undying power of Rome and the essential cooking fire of every home. At one point in its lifetime, the Temple of Vesta was used to house legal wills and documents of the Senators.
 * = [[image:http://www.the-romans.co.uk/g4/55.temple_of_vesta.jpg align="left" caption="An artist's rendition of the Temple of Vesta's original state."]] ||= [[image:http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lE_RImolTis/Ts1oMnDg_6I/AAAAAAAAA0E/bzyGjKr8u-U/s1600/vesta+temple.jpg width="240" height="285" align="left" caption="A detailed model of the Temple of Vesta."]] ||= [[image:http://www.abu.nb.ca/courses/ntintro/images/temple_vesta1.jpg caption="The remains that stand today of the Temple of Vesta."]] ||

History Timeline

 * Believed to be built by Numa Pompilius
 * Burned down twice but not due to the vestal fire
 * 64 BC - Great Fire of Rome
 * 191 BC
 * Sacred flame extinguished in 394 by Theodosius after he won the Battle of the Frigidus
 * Looted and stripped of marble in the 16th century
 * Reconstructed in the 1930s by Benito Mussolini