194 THE CIl Y. BOOK III, There was nothing more sacred within the city than this altar, on which the sacred fire was always main- tained. This great veneration, it is true, became weakened in Greece, at a very early date, because the Greek im- agination allowed itself to be turned aside by more splendid temples, richer legends, and more beautiful statues. But it never became enfeebled at Koine. The Romans never abandoned the conviction that the destiny of the city was connected with this fire which represented their gods. The respect which they had tor their vestals proves the importance of their priest- hood. If a consul met one of them, he ordered his fasces to be lowered before her. On the other hand, if one of them allowed the fire to go out, or sullied the worship by failing in her duty of chastity, the city, which then believed itself tlireatened with the loss of its gods, took vengeance upon her by burying her alive. One day the temple of Vesta came near being burned in a conflagration of the surrounding houses. Rome was in consternation, for it felt all its future to be in peril. When the danger had passed, the senate in- structed the consul to search out the authors of the fire, and the consul made accusations against several inhabitants of Capua, who happened at that time to be in Rome. This was not because he had any proof against them, but he reasoned in this manner: "A conflagration has threatened the hearth of our city; this conflagration, which might have destroyed our nysius, II. C5. Pausanias, I. 42 ; V. 25 ; VIII. 9. Athenaeus, I. 58; X. 24. Boeckh, Corp. Inscr., 1193. At Rome the temple of Vesta was nothing more than a hearth. Cicero, De Legih., II. 8; II. 12. Ovid, Fast., VI. 207. Florus, I. 2. Livy, XXVIII. 81.
