Sources

Rome's Vestal Virgins: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Principate

Citation Formats

General Reference

Divinity Atlas. "Rome's Vestal Virgins: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Principate." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/romes-vestal-virgins-a-study-of-romes-vestal-priestesses-in-the-late-republic-and-early-principate.

APA Style

Divinity Atlas. (n.d.). Rome's Vestal Virgins: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Principate. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/romes-vestal-virgins-a-study-of-romes-vestal-priestesses-in-the-late-republic-and-early-principate

BibTeX

@misc{divinityatlas-rome-s-vestal-virgins-a-study-of-rome-s,
  author = {Divinity Atlas},
  title = {Rome's Vestal Virgins: A Study of Rome's Vestal Priestesses in the Late Republic and Early Principate},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://divinity.interactivelion.com/sources/romes-vestal-virgins-a-study-of-romes-vestal-priestesses-in-the-late-republic-and-early-principate},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Robin Lorsch Wildfang is a classicist, and this Routledge book is her academic study of the Vestal Virgins of the late Roman Republic and early Principate, covering their selection, consecration and role within the Collegium Pontificum, the college of priests that oversaw Roman state religion. Its strength is focused, well sourced treatment of a specific and well documented period of Vestal practice, working from the Roman literary and legal sources for how the priesthood actually functioned in this window. Its limit is exactly that chronological focus, the source record itself notes it: the study concentrates on the late Republic and early Principate specifically, so a claim about earlier archaic Roman Vestal practice, or about the priesthood's later imperial history, needs a source with a wider chronological range than this one covers.

Facts

Assessment

Reliability Tier

Robin Lorsch Wildfang's scholarly study of the Vestal Virgins in the late Roman Republic and early Principate, covering their selection, consecration and role within the Collegium Pontificum; its focus is that period specifically, so a claim about earlier or later Roman practice may need a source with a wider chronological range.

Notes

Robin Lorsch Wildfang's scholarly study of the Vestal Virgins of the late Roman Republic and early Principate, covering their selection, consecration and role within the Collegium Pontificum. Use for established historical facts about the Vestals in this period; its focus is the late Republic and early Principate specifically, so a claim about earlier or later Roman practice may need a source with a wider chronological range.

Citation

Author

Robin Lorsch Wildfang

Publisher

Routledge, London and New York

Publication Year

2006

Source Type

academic monograph

Claims Backed By This Source (64 claims)

This source backs 64 claims across the atlas. As facts: 43 well-attested, 1 open question. As cited relationships: 10 holds. Plus 10 entities citing it as a general reference with no single fact or relationship attached.

Disposition By Topic

Historical Figures, 15 claims: 8 well-attested, 1 open question, 5 holds, 1 general references.
Articles, 13 claims: 11 well-attested, 2 general references.
Open Questions, 8 claims: 6 well-attested, 1 holds, 1 general references.
Organizations, 8 claims: 5 well-attested, 2 holds, 1 general references.
Sources, 7 claims: 7 well-attested.
Religious Roles & Titles, 4 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 general references.
Rituals, 4 claims: 3 well-attested, 1 general references.
Cultures, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.
Holidays & Festivals, 2 claims: 1 holds, 1 general references.
Sacred Sites, 1 claims: 1 general references.