Vestal Virgin: Chosen For Rome

by Katherine Spada Basto

Overview

Cornelia Cosa is unwillingly chosen to be a Vestal Virgin for thirty years.

She begins her training as a novice, learning the ancient rites and rituals to Vestal, dedicating herself to guarding Vesta's flame

Set during the turbulent reign of Emperor Nero in 60 AD, when Rome worshiped many gods and goddesses, there is one group the Emperor will not abide- a group called the Jesus Followers. Led by Paul, under house arrest, Nero perceives them as a threat to Rome and begins to scapegoat those suspected as being a part of the Cult of the Nazarene.

When Cornelia sneals out one night with her follow Vestal, Vibidia, to listen to Paul preach, her life will never be the same. And when the augur, Lucius befriends her, she begins to understand how superstitious the Roman people are and how much credence they give to auguries, signs and omens.

Ms. Spada Basto weaves in the ancient legends and mythologies of Rome, alongside many of the festivals and rituals of the Roman people. Based on many true events, "Vestal Virgin: Chosen for Rome" follows the authentic timeline during the reign of Nero, culminating in the Great Fire of Rome and the fate of the Apostle Paul.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781733390071
Publisher:	Painted Turtle Press
Publication date:	12/08/2019
Pages:	372
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.83(d)

About the Author

Katherine Spada Basto is the award winning author of Days to the Gallows: A Novel of the Hartford Witch Panic. She enjoys traveling to different sites she is researching for authenticity with her subject matter. Vestal Virgin: Chosen for Rome is Ms. Spada Basto's second novel. Vestal Virgin has won first place in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards for both Religious Fiction and New Adult Fiction. Ms. Spada Basto is presently working on her third book.

Editorial Reviews

"A vivid evocation of ancient Rome..."

-Duncan Eagleson, Darkwalker



From the Publisher

2020-06-03
A historical novel features a vestal virgin in ancient Rome encountering the new religion of Christianity.

This book from Basto, following Days to the Gallows (2016), opens in C.E. 60. Cornelia Cosa, the pampered 10-year-old daughter of a prosperous wine merchant, is chosen in a lottery to become a vestal virgin, a member of Rome’s most venerated and venerable female religious society, charged with preserving the morals of society. Vestals serve 30-year terms and are revered by all strata of Roman society. But being torn from her family is naturally a rude shock to Cornelia. In carefully researched and well-crafted prose, the author uses Cornelia as a viewpoint character through which to introduce her readers to the inner world of the vestal virgins (“I climbed the seven steps and entered my new home feeling as bald as a baby bird,” the young girl muses as she begins her journey). Readers meet her fellow sisters in the House of the Vestals and learn the lore and history of the order as Cornelia grows older and adapts to its rhythms. One day, a friend among the vestals takes Cornelia to the house of a man named Paul, leader of the fledgling Christian faith and gadfly to the Emperor Nero. Cornelia sees a “small, bandy-legged man with the balding head and tufts of red and gray hair sticking up on the sides.” Paul impresses her; his message about the ministry of Jesus thoroughly converts her friend and troubles Cornelia’s thoughts. As the years go by, Cornelia’s family experiences business reversals, and Nero deteriorates into a brutal tyrant. Basto does a very readable, confident job of playing all of this against the backdrop of personalities and intrigue inside the Temple of Vesta. Cornelia herself is a lovable, headstrong character who will make a deep impression on readers.

A solidly grounded, atmospheric evocation of Nero’s Rome at a crossroads of faith and crisis.

Kirkus Reviews