d lived in
the service of the goddess.

One of the chief functions of the virgins, in their service in the
temple, was to keep the sacred fire perpetually burning. This fire was
never to go out, and if, by any neglect on the part of the vestal in
attendance, this was allowed to occur, the guilty maiden was punished
terribly by scourging. The punishment was inflicted by the hands of
the highest pontifical officer of the state. The laws of the
institution however evinced their high regard for the purity and
modesty of the vestal maidens by requiring that the blows should be
administered in the dark, the sufferer having been previously prepared
to receive them by being partially undressed by her female attendants.
The extinguished fire was then rekindled with many solemn ceremonies.

Rhea Silvia, the mother of Romulus, was, we repeat, a vestal virgin.
She lived four hundred years after the death of AEneas. During these
four centuries, the kingdom had been governed by the descendants of
AEneas, generally in a peaceful and prosperous manner, although some
difficulties occurred in the establishment of the succession
immediately after AEneas's death. It will be remembered that AEneas was
drowned during the continuance of the war. He left one son, and
perhaps others. The one who figured most conspicuously in the
subsequent history of the kingdom, was Ascanius, the son who had
accompanied AEneas from Troy, and who had now attained to years of
maturity. He, of course, on his father's death, immediately succeeded
him.

There was some question, however, whether, after all, Lavinia herself
was not entitled to the kingdom. It was doubtful, according to the
laws and usages of those days, whether AEneas held the realm in his own
right, or as the husband of Lavinia, who was the daughter and heir of
Latinus, the ancient and legitimate king. Lavinia, however, seemed to
have no disposition to assert her claim. She was of a mild and gentle
spirit; and, besides, her health was at that time such as to lead her
to wish for retirement and repose. She even had some fears for her
personal safety, not knowing but that Ascanius would be suspicious and
jealous of her on account of her claims to the throne, and that he
might be tempted to do her some injury. Her husband had been her only
protector among the Trojans, and now, since he was no more, and
another, who was in some sense her rival, had risen to power, she
naturally felt insecure. She ac