Trial of the Vestal Virgins (114–113 BC)
Three Vestal Virgins, Aemilia, Licinia and Marcia, were accused of breaking their vows around 114–113 BC in two famous trials.
In the first trial, the high priest Metellus Dalmaticus found Aemilia guilty and sentenced her to death in 114 BC. Licinia and Marcia were acquitted, which caused public outrage because the crimes were believed to be an open secret among Rome’s elite.
The case was reopened the following year by the tribune Sextus Peducaeus and moved from the pontiffs to a harsher judge, Lucius Cassius Longinus Ravilla. Licinia and Marcia were tried again. Licinia was defended by the orator Lucius Licinius Crassus. In the second trial both women were found guilty and sentenced to be buried alive.
During the trials, several men were named as the Vestals’ lovers, including the orator Marcus Antonius, who was acquitted. Their slave, Manius, had reported the crimes in exchange for freedom he never received, and he claimed such sexual acts were tolerated among Rome’s aristocrats. The trials sparked a major scandal and were seen as evidence of elite corruption.
After the verdicts, rituals were held to clean Vesta’s sacred fire. The Sibylline books led to the construction of a new temple to Venus Verticordia, and two couples (one Greek and one Gallic) were buried alive in the Forum Boarium as a rare act of human sacrifice.
Aemilia came from the patrician gens Aemilia; Licinia from the plebeian gens Licinia, daughter of Gaius Licinius Crassus; and Marcia from the plebeian gens Marcia, possibly the daughter of Quintus Marcius Rex, praetor in 144 BC. Licinia’s family background also included tensions with the pontiffs, such as an altar dedication in 123 BC being canceled for lacking popular approval.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 04:01 (CET).