=--Each family had a hearth, also, that it adored.
For the Romans, as for the Hindoos, fire was a god and the hearth an
altar. The flame was to be maintained day and night, and offerings
made on the hearth of oil, fat, wine, and incense; the fire then
became brilliant and rose higher as if nourished by the offering.
Before beginning his meal the Roman thanked the god of the hearth,
gave him a part of the food, and poured out for him a little wine
(this was the libation). Even the sceptical Horace supped with his
slaves before the hearth and offered libation and prayer.
Every Roman family had in its house a sanctuary where were to be found
the Lares, the souls of the ancestors, and the altar of the hearth.
Rome also had its sacred hearth, called Vesta, an ancient word
signifying the hearth itself. Four virgins of the noblest families,
the Vestals, were charged with keeping the hearth, for it was
necessary that the flame should never be extinguished, and the care of
it could be confided only to pure beings. If a Vestal broke her vow,
she was buried alive in a cave, for she had committed sacrilege and
had endangered the whole Roman people.
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