| Status questionis. This dissertation reintroduces a question, somewhat disregarded or discounted in recent years, regarding the link between the Vestals and early Christian consecrated virgins. In a political interpretation of the ancient Roman virginity cult, this study demonstrates that female virginity was understood by both Christian and nonChristian Romans as a symbolic analogue of the securely intact body politic.; Research procedure and methods. This study employs disciplinary tools of philology, anthropology, history, and sexuality and gender studies in a critical analysis and interpretation of ancient texts. Scholarly literature in these disciplines was reviewed to identify useful models of inquiry and analysis for addressing questions of sexuality, virginity and gender in Roman myth, ritual, and social practice. The modest but substantial body of scholarship on the Vestals (Worlsford, Wissowa, Beard, Douglas, Cornell, Staples) was examined, as was the literature on ancient virginity and female sexuality (Sissa, Dean-Jones, Rousselle, Joshel). The more prolific scholarship on early Christian virginity (Elm, Power, d'Izarnay,) and sexuality (Brown, Clark, Martin) was also examined. Key word searches were conducted on ancient Christian and classical texts to identify references to consecrated virginity. From these sources, a corpus of primary texts was defined and analyzed in detail to discern common themes and patterns.; Results. The analysis of texts and social context validates the hypothesis of cultural continuity, establishing a clear pattern of assumptions, inferences, and direct statements indicating the political character and significance of virginity among Christian and traditional pre-Christian Romans. The texts clearly indicate the political understanding of virginity held by ancient Romans themselves, both Christians and nonChristians.; Conclusions. Based on these findings, the study concludes that there is a direct link between the Vestals and early Christian virgins based on their utility as a symbol of the civic body. Furthermore, the study concludes that the virginity cult was particularly useful to Nicene Christians in establishing its institutional identity and dominance as the privileged, authentic form of Christianity in the years following the conversion of Constantine. |
