Vestal Virgins

priestesses of goddess Vesta in Ancient Rome

mother of Romulus and Remus

thumb|Reverse of a denarius (89 BCE) depicting the torture of Tarpeia thumb|Reverse of a denarius (19-18 BCE) of [[Augustus showing Tarpeia crushed by the soldiers' shields]] In Roman legend, Tarpeia (; mid-8th century BCE), daughter of the Roman commander Spurius Tarpeius, was a Vestal Virgin who betrayed the city of Rome to the Sabines at the time of their women's abduction for what she thought would be a reward of jewelry. She was instead crushed to death by Sabine shields and her body cast from the southern Rock (Rupes Tarpeia).

wife of Roman emperor Elagabalus

archaeological site in Rome, Italy

Vestal virgin who saved her father from an attack by a group of plebeians

thumb|500x500px|Tuccia, in a painting by Francesco Granacci thumb|Hector Leroux, La Vestale Tuccia, 1874. thumb|'The Vestal' by Joshua Reynolds, showing Tuccia.

Roman vestal virgin (fl. 1st century BCE)