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【簡譯】維斯塔貞女（羅馬宗教）

2022-09-28 09:11 作者:神尾智代 0人讀過 | 我要投稿

Vestal Virgins (Latin: Vestales) were the priestesses of the Roman goddess of the hearth, Vesta, in the state religion of ancient Rome. At varying times there were four to six priestesses employed. They were the only full-time clergy (collegia) of a Roman deity which attests to the high regard in which the goddess was held. They tended the sacred fire in the shrine of Vesta in the Roman Forum and performed other rites associated with the goddess such as caring for the sacred objects in the shrine and inner sanctuary, preparing ritual food and officiating at public events during the yearly Vestalia, Vesta's feast days (June 7-15). They also ritually prepared the herbs sprinkled on sacrifices and made the bread (pane) which was offered on feast days such as March 1st, which was the Roman New Year.

? ? ? ? ? 維斯塔貞女（拉丁文：Vestales）是古羅馬宗教中爐灶女神維斯塔的女祭司，平時有四到六名女祭司。她們是羅馬神祗中唯一的全職神職人員（collegia），這證明了該女神受到人們的高度重視。維斯塔貞女負(fù)責(zé)照看羅馬廣場上維斯塔神殿中的圣火，并執(zhí)行與女神有關(guān)的儀式，如照看神殿和內(nèi)部圣所中的圣物、準(zhǔn)備祭祀食物，并在每年的維斯塔節(jié)（6月7日至15日）期間主持公共活動。她們還在儀式上準(zhǔn)備灑在祭品上的草藥，并制作面包（pane），在節(jié)慶日（如3月1日，即羅馬新年）提供給朝拜者。

The Roman writer Plutarch (45-120 CE) notes, "Some are of the opinion that these vestals had no other business than the preservation of [the sacred] fire; but others conceive that they were keepers of other divine secrets, concealed from all but themselves." Their duties required them to remain chaste and male clergy were not allowed to participate in the rites concerning Vesta and the Vestales. The Collegia of the Vestales, according to ancient writers such as Livy, was instituted during the reign of the second (possibly mythical) Roman king Numa Pompilius (717-673 BCE) and remained a sigificant part of Roman life until 394 CE when the Christian emperor Theodosius I decreed against pagan rituals, had the sacred fire put out, and dissolved the Vestales.

? ? ? ? ? 羅馬作家普魯塔克（公元45-120年）指出："有些人認(rèn)為，這些女祭司除了保護(hù)[圣火]之外，沒有其他事務(wù)；但其他人認(rèn)為，她們是神圣秘密的守護(hù)者，除了她們自己之外，對所有人都隱瞞了。" 她們的職責(zé)要求其必須保持貞潔，男性神職人員不允許參與有關(guān)維斯塔和維斯塔的儀式。根據(jù)李維等古代作家的說法，維斯塔神殿是在第二任（可能是神話中的）羅馬國王努瑪·龐皮留斯（公元前717-673年）統(tǒng)治時期建立的，直到公元394年基督教皇帝狄奧多西一世下令反對異教儀式，將圣火撲滅，并解散了維斯塔神殿。

The virgins were chosen between the ages of six and ten years old by the chief priest and had to serve for 30 years (during which time they, of course, had to remain chaste). Once their 30 years of service was completed, they were free to marry, but very few did as it was considered unlucky since they had, essentially, been the brides of Vesta for most of their lives and were consecrated to the goddess. Plutarch writes,

? ? ? ? ? The whole [of their] term being completed, it was lawful for them to marry, and leaving the sacred order, to choose any conditions of life that pleased them; but of this permission few, as they say, made use; and in cases where they did so, it was observed that their change was not a happy one, but accompanied ever after with regret and melancholy; so that the greater number, from religious fears and scruples, forebore, and continued to old age and death in the strict observance of a single life.

? ? ? ? ? 貞女們在六歲到十歲之間，由祭司長挑選，被選者必須服務(wù)30年（當(dāng)然，在此期間她們必須保持貞潔）。一旦她們完成了30年的服務(wù)，她們就可以自由結(jié)婚，但很少有人這樣做，因為這被認(rèn)為是不吉利的，因為她們基本上是維斯塔的新娘，在她們生命的大部分時間里都被獻(xiàn)給了女神。普魯塔克寫道：

? ? ? ? ?她們的任期結(jié)束后，可以合法地結(jié)婚，并離開神圣的秩序，選擇她們喜歡的生活環(huán)境；但正如她們所說，很少有人利用這一許可；在這樣做的情況下，人們發(fā)現(xiàn)貞女們的變化并不快樂，而是一直伴隨著遺憾和憂郁；因此，更多的人出于宗教恐懼和顧慮，放棄了結(jié)婚的想法，繼續(xù)嚴(yán)格遵守單身生活，直至年老和死亡。

If a Vestal Virgin failed in her duties, she was severely beaten and the punishment for loss of virginity was being buried alive, though other, worse, punishments were sometimes given such as having molten lead poured down one's throat. Even so, the Vestal Virgins were honored by the community, had most of their needs provided for by temple tithes, and were free of many of the restrictions Roman women had to endure. It was, in fact, because they were so highly regarded that the punishment of breaking their vows was so severe. Plutarch writes, "If these vestals commit any minor fault, they are punishable by the high-priest only, who scourges the offender, sometimes with her clothes off, in a dark place, with a curtain drawn between; but she that has broken her vow is buried alive near the gate called Collina, where a little mound of earth stands." Most of the virgins on record kept their vows, however, and continued through time to honor their goddess Vesta, and the city and people of Rome, until the coming of Christianity.

? ? ? ? ? 如果維斯塔貞女沒有履行職責(zé)，她就會遭到毒打，失去貞操的懲罰是被活埋，盡管有時會有其他更嚴(yán)重的懲罰，如將熔化的鉛倒入喉嚨。即便如此，維斯塔貞女還是受到了社會的尊重，她們的大部分日常需求由神廟的什一稅提供，并且不受羅馬婦女必須忍受的許多限制。事實(shí)上，正是因為她們受到如此高的重視，所以對違背誓言的懲罰才如此嚴(yán)厲。普魯塔克寫道："如果這些貞女犯了任何小錯，只能由大祭司來懲罰，大祭司會在一個黑暗的地方鞭打她們，有時還會脫掉她的衣服；違背誓言的人會被活埋在一個叫科里納的門附近，那里有一個小土堆。" 然而，記錄在案的大多數(shù)貞女都遵守了誓言，并隨著時間的推移繼續(xù)紀(jì)念她們的維斯塔女神，直到基督教的到來。

The fall of the Roman Empire, it was argued, was caused by the acceptance of Christianity and the neglect of the old gods who had kept the city safe and prosperous for so long. Both St. Augustine and Orosius wrote in defense of this very accusation. The desecration of the temple of Vesta, and the disbanding of the Vestal Virgins, was seen by pagans as the height of ingratitude for the service the goddess had given the city over the centuries. A woman named Serena, the Christian niece of Theodosius I, is said to have desecrated Vesta's temple by taking the necklace from her statue and claiming it for her own. For this act she was cursed by one of the last remaining Vestal Virgins and was tormented by nightmares about her impending death. Whether she died young is not known, nor is the truth of the account verified, but the fact that it survives attests to the importance the Vestales played in the life of ancient Rome and what their loss meant to those of the city who did not place their faith in the new god of the Christians.

? ? ? ? ? ?有人認(rèn)為，羅馬帝國的衰落是由于接受了基督教，忽視了長期以來維持城市安全和繁榮的舊神。圣奧古斯丁和奧羅西烏斯都為這一指責(zé)寫了辯護(hù)詞。褻瀆維斯塔神廟和解散維斯塔貞女，被異教徒視為對該女神幾個世紀(jì)以來給予該城市的服務(wù)忘恩負(fù)義的表現(xiàn)。一個叫塞雷娜的女人，狄奧多西一世的基督徒侄女，據(jù)說褻瀆了維斯塔的神廟，從她的雕像上取下項鏈并據(jù)為己有。因為這一行為，她被最后剩下的一個維斯塔貞女詛咒，并被關(guān)于她即將死亡的噩夢所折磨。她是否英年早逝不得而知，這段記載的真實(shí)性也沒有得到證實(shí)，但這一事實(shí)證明了維斯塔貞女在古羅馬生活中的重要性，以及她們的離去對那些不相信基督教新神的城市人意味著什么。