The temple's current, ruinous form employs elements of Greek architecture with Corinthian columns and marble.

The Romans believed that her sacred fire was closely tied to the fortunes of the city, and that its extinction signified imminent disaster for Rome.

The Temple of Vesta was tended by the six Vestal Virgins, drawn between the ages of 6 and 10 from freeborn, or traditionally, aristocratic families.

[5] They surrendered all legal connections with their birth family, and came under the authority of the pontifex maximus, Rome's chief priest.

While chastity until marriage was considered proper in Rome, long-term celibacy was not, as women were generally expected to marry, and give birth to heirs for their husbands.

[6] A Vestal who broke her vow of chastity during her priestly tenure disrupted the relationship between Rome and its gods.

For breaking their vow of chastity, a Vestal could be condemned to a living burial in a subterranean cell within the city boundary, with a little food and water, and left to die.

The respect and social privileges that came from their position, a generous pension, and a complete lack of personal experience of the duties attached to Roman marriage, seems to have encouraged many to remain in the priesthood after their term of service had officially ended.

While most Roman temples held a cult statue, Vesta's had a hearth and flame that burned continuously, day and night.

[10] The temple was the storehouse for the legal wills and documents of Roman Senators and cult objects such as the Palladium, a statue of Athena (Roman Minerva) believed to have been brought by Aeneas from Troy; the statue was felt to be one of the Pignora Imperii, or pledges of imperium, of ancient Rome.

The original Temple of Vesta stood on the east end of the forum near the house of the Vestal Virgins and the Regia.

Lucius Caecilius was blinded by the flames, and it was believed that this was the result of him breaking the tradition of the temple which barres men from entering.

Finally, it burned down in 191 AD and was rebuilt for the last time during the reign of Septimius Severus by his wife, Julia Domna.

His works were published in 1900 and included measurements and sections of the temple's foundation, photos and drawings of the principal architectural elements, and a restored plan of the building.

[3] Finally, in 1930-1931 Alfonso Bartoli reconstructed two and a half of the Temple of Vesta's bays, which can still be seen in the forum today.