§2.66.1νόμας δὲ τὴν ἀρχὴν παραλαβὼν τὰς μὲν ἰδίας οὐκ ἐκίνησε τῶν φρατριῶν ἑστίας, κοινὴν δὲ κατεστήσατο πάντων μίαν ἐν τῷ μεταξὺ τοῦ τε Καπιτωλίου καὶ τοῦ Παλατίου χωρίῳ, συμπεπολισμένων ἤδη τῶν λόφων ἑνὶ περιβόλῳ καὶ μέσης ἀμφοῖν οὔσης τῆς ἀγορᾶς, ἐν ᾗ κατεσκεύασται τὸ ἱερόν, τήν τε φυλακὴν τῶν ἱερῶν κατὰ τὸν πάτριον τῶν Λατίνων νόμον διὰ παρθένων ἐνομοθέτησε γίνεσθαι·
When Numa succeeded to the rule, he did not disturb the private hearths of the curiae, but established one common hearth for all in the place between the Capitoline and the Palatine hills, these hills having already been united within a single wall, and the forum being in the middle of both, in which the temple was built; and he ordained that the guarding of the sacred objects should be performed by virgins according to the ancestral law of the Latins.
§2.66.2ἔχει δέ τινας ἀπορίας καὶ τὸ φυλαττόμενον ἐν τῷ ἱερῷ τί δήποτέ ἐστι καὶ διὰ τί πρόσκειται παρθένοις.
But there are some difficulties regarding what in the world it is that is guarded in the temple, and why it is entrusted to virgins.
τινὲς μὲν οὖν οὐδὲν ἔξω τοῦ φανεροῦ πυρὸς εἶναί φασι τὸ τηρούμενον, τὴν δὲ φυλακὴν αὐτοῦ παρθένοις ἀνακεῖσθαι μᾶλλον ἢ ἀνδράσι ποιοῦνται κατὰ τὸ εἰκός, ὅτι πῦρ μὲν ἀμίαντον, παρθένος δʼ ἄφθαρτον, τῷ δʼ ἁγνοτάτῳ τῶν θείων τὸν καθαρώτατον τῶν θνητῶν φίλον.
Some, indeed, say that there is nothing kept there except the visible fire, and they think it reasonable that its guarding is assigned to virgins rather than to men, because fire is undefiled and a virgin is incorruptible, and to the purest of divine things the cleanest of mortals is dear.
§2.66.3Ἑστίᾳ δʼ ἀνακεῖσθαι τὸ πῦρ νομίζουσιν, ὅτι γῆ τε οὖσα ἡ θεὸς καὶ τὸν μέσον κατέχουσα τοῦ κόσμου τόπον τὰς ἀνάψεις τοῦ μεταρσίου ποιεῖται πυρὸς ἀφʼ ἑαυτῆς.
And they believe that the fire is consecrated to Vesta because the goddess, being the earth and occupying the middle place of the universe, produces the kindling of the aerial fire from herself.
εἰσὶ δέ τινες οἵ φασιν ἔξω τοῦ πυρὸς ἀπόρρητα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἱερὰ κεῖσθαί τινα ἐν τῷ τεμένει τῆς θεᾶς, ὧν οἵ τε ἱεροφάνται τὴν γνῶσιν ἔχουσι καὶ αἱ παρθένοι, τεκμήριον οὐ μικρὸν παρεχόμενοι τοῦ λόγου τὸ συμβὰν περὶ τὴν ἔμπρησιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ κατὰ τὸν Φοινικικὸν πόλεμον τὸν πρῶτον συστάντα Ῥωμαῖοις πρὸς Καρχηδονίους περὶ Σικελίας.
But there are some who say that besides the fire there are certain sacred objects, kept secret from the multitude, lying in the precinct of the goddess, of which both the hierophants and the virgins have knowledge, offering no small proof of their statement what happened concerning the burning of the temple during the First Punic War, which arose between the Romans and the Carthaginians over Sicily.
§2.66.4ἐμπρησθέντος γὰρ τοῦ τεμένους καὶ τῶν παρθένων φευγουσῶν ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς τῶν ἱεροφαντῶν τις Λεύκιος Καικίλιος ὁ καλούμενος Μέτελλος ἀνὴρ ὑπατικός, ὁ τὸν ἀοίδιμον ἐκ Σικελίας ἀπὸ Καρχηδονίων καταγαγὼν ὀκτὼ καὶ τριάκοντα καὶ ἑκατὸν ἐλεφάντων θρίαμβον, ὑπεριδὼν τῆς ἰδίας ἀσφαλείας τοῦ κοινῇ συμφέροντος ἕνεκα παρεκινδύνευσεν εἰς τὰ καιόμενα βιάσασθαι καὶ τὰ καταλειφθέντα ὑπὸ τῶν παρθένων ἁρπάσας ἱερὰ διέσωσεν ἐκ τοῦ πυρός· ἐφʼ ᾧ τιμὰς παρὰ τῆς πόλεως ἐξηνέγκατο μεγάλας, ὡς ἡ τῆς εἰκόνος αὐτοῦ τῆς ἐν Καπιτωλίῳ κειμένης ἐπιγραφὴ μαρτυρεῖ.
For when the precinct was on fire and the virgins were fleeing from the flames, one of the hierophants, Lucius Caecilius, called Metellus, a man of consular rank, who had celebrated that famous triumph with one hundred and thirty-eight elephants taken from the Carthaginians in Sicily, disregarding his own safety for the sake of the common interest, ventured to force his way into the burning place, and snatching the sacred objects that had been left behind by the virgins, saved them from the fire; for which he received great honors from the state, as the inscription on his statue standing in the Capitoline testifies.
§2.66.5τοῦτο δὴ λαβόντες ὁμολογούμενον ἐπισυνάπτουσιν αὐτοὶ στοχασμούς τινας ἰδίους, οἱ μὲν ἐκ τῶν ἐν Σαμοθρᾴκῃ λέγοντες ἱερῶν μοῖραν εἶναί τινα φυλαττομένην τὴν ἐνθάδε, Δαρδάνου μὲν εἰς τὴν ὑφʼ ἑαυτοῦ κτισθεῖσαν πόλιν ἐκ τῆς νήσου τὰ ἱερὰ μετενεγκαμένου, Αἰνείου δὲ, ὅτʼ ἔφυγεν ἐκ τῆς Τρωάδος ἅμα τοῖς ἄλλοις καὶ ταῦτα κομίσαντος εἰς Ἰταλίαν, οἱ δὲ τὸ διοπετὲς Παλλάδιον ἀποφαίνοντες εἶναι τὸ παρʼ Ἰλιεῦσι γενόμενον, ὡς Αἰνείου κομίσαντος αὐτὸ διʼ ἐμπειρίαν, Ἀχαιῶν δὲ τὸ μίμημα αὐτοῦ λαβόντων κλοπῇ· περὶ οὗ πολλοὶ σφόδρα εἴρηνται ποιηταῖς τε καὶ συγγραφεῦσι λόγοι.
Taking this indeed as agreed, they add certain conjectures of their own; some saying that a portion of the sacred objects in Samothrace is what is guarded here, Dardanus having transferred the sacred objects from that island to the city founded by himself, and Aeneas, when he fled from Troy, having brought them along with the others to Italy; and others declaring it to be the Palladion which fell from heaven, which was among the Ilians, on the ground that Aeneas brought it because of his experience, while the Achaeans took a replica of it by theft; concerning which very many accounts have been told both by poets and historians.
§2.66.6ἐγὼ δὲ τὸ μὲν εἶναί τινα τοῖς πολλοῖς ἄδηλα ἱερὰ φυλαττόμενα ὑπὸ τῶν παρθένων καὶ οὐ τὸ πῦρ μόνον ἐκ πολλῶν πάνυ καταλαμβάνομαι, τίνα δὲ ταῦτʼ ἔστιν οὐκ ἀξιῶ πολυπραγμονεῖν οὔτʼ ἐμαυτὸν οὔτε ἄλλον οὐδένα τῶν βουλομένων τὰ πρὸς θεοὺς ὅσια τηρεῖν.
For my part, I am convinced by very many proofs that there are indeed certain sacred objects kept by the virgins which are unknown to the multitude, and not the fire alone; but as to what these are, I do not think it right to inquire curiously, either for myself or for anyone else who wishes to preserve what is holy toward the gods.