Plutarch's Life of Numa, Part II

Important points from Plutarch's Life of Numa Pompilius, an early king of Rome:

1. The number of Vestal Virgins was initially two. Later, two more added. Then, under Servius Tullius, two more were added. The number remained six up to Plutarch's era. 

2. The period of celibacy was 30 years: ten to study, ten to perform, and the remaining ten to teach and pass on the knowledge to the new Vestal Virgins. 

3. After the thirty year period, "any of them who wished might marry and cease to be priestesses; but it is said that very few availed themselves of this privilege, and that those few were not happy, but, by their regrets and sorrow for the life they had left, made the others scruple to leave it, prefer to remain virgins till their death."

4. If a criminal on his way to be executed happened to meet a Vestal Virgin, he was not to be put to death, but the Vestal Virgin had to swear that the meeting was by chance.

5. The Temple of Vesta was round to reflect the shape of the universe. The earth is "not in the center of the universe".

6. Libitina was the goddess associated with funerals. 

7. There were priests called Salii. Their job was to protect a shield that had fallen from heaven to protect Rome during a plague that occurred during Numa's reign. Numa had eleven replicas of the shield built, that no one would know which was the original. 

8. There was a well in the meadow where Numa would meet Egeria. The well was considered a source of holy water, with which the Vestal Virgins were to sprinkle the Temple of Vesta to purify it.

9. Three theories as to why worshipers should turn around one revolution while worshiping:

     a. It reflects the rotation of the earth.

    b. In order that worshipers who had entered a temple that faces east, with their back to the sun, might turn and supplicate the sun god as well.

     c. My favorite: Nothing human is constant; it is therefore our job to be content. 

10. Two theories as to why worshipers should sit after a prayer:

      a. To punctuate good prayers.

   b. As way of marking an interval between prayers, and that they not be said or performed  hurriedly or in the course of doing something else.

11. The first temples that Numa founded were to Fides and Terminus. Sacrifices to Terminus were originally "bloodless": "Numa argued that the god of boundaries must be a lover of peace, and a witness of righteousness, and therefore averse to bloodshed."

12. March was originally the first month when the Romans had ten months. Numa made it the third. Some people say Numa created January and February. March was said to have been in honor of Mars.

13. February means the month of purification, in which the dead are honored (Parentalia?). Lupercalia resembles a purification ceremony.

14. January is named after Janus. Plutarch thinks Janus was a great king lost to history, who was known for good governance, and Numa wanted the populace to honor "good governance before war". 

15. Section XX deserves to be quoted in full:

There is a temple to [Janus] in Rome, which has two doors, and which they call the gate of war. It is the custom to open the temple in time of war, and to close it during peace. This scarcely ever took place, as the empire was almost always at war with some state, being by its very greatness continually brought into collision with the neighbouring tribes. Only in the time of Caesar Augustus, after he had conquered Antonius, it was closed; and before that, during the consulship of Marcus Atilius and Titus Manlius, for a short time, and then was almost immediately reopened, as a new war broke out. But during Numa's reign no one saw it open for a single day, and it remained closed for forty-three years continuously, so utterly had he made wars to cease on all sides. Not only was the spirit of the Romans subdued and pacified by the gentle and just character of their king, but even the neighbouring cities, as if some soothing healthful air was breathed over them from Rome, altered their habits and longed to live quiet and well-governed, cultivating the earth, bringing up their families in peace, and worshipping the gods. And gay festivals and entertainments, during which the people of the various states fearlessly mixed with one another, prevailed throughout Italy, for Numa's knowledge of all that was good and noble was shed abroad like water from a fountain, and the atmosphere of holy calm by which he was surrounded spread over all men. The very poets when they wrote of that peaceful time were unable to find adequate expressions for it, as one writes: "Across the shields are cobwebs laid / Rust eats the lance and keen edged blade / No more we hear the trumpets bray / And from our eyes no more is slumber chased away."

No war, revolution, or political disturbance of any kind is recorded during Numa's reign, neither was there any envy or hatred of him or any attempt by others to obtain the crown; but either fear of the gods who visibly protected him, or reverence for his virtues, or the special grace of Heaven, made men's lives innocent and untainted with evil, and formed a striking proof of the truth of what Plato said many years afterwards, that the only escape from misery for men is when by Divine Providence philosophy is combined with royal power, and used to exalt virtue over vice. Blessed indeed is the truly wise man, and blessed are they who hear the words of his mouth. Indeed his people require no restraints or punishments, but seeing a plain example of virtue in the life of their chief, they themselves of their own accord reform their lives, and model them upon that gentle and blessed rule of love and just dealing one with another which it is the noblest work of politicians to establish. He is most truly a king who can teach such lessons as these to his subjects, and Numa beyond all others seems to have clearly discerned this truth.