Tuccia (3rd-century BC), was an ancient Roman

Vestal Virgin In ancient Rome, the Vestal Virgins or Vestals (, singular ) were priestesses of Vesta, virgin goddess of Rome's sacred hearth and its flame. The Vestals were unlike any other public priesthood. They were chosen before puberty from several s ...

. Its supposed by her nomen that she belonged to the Gens Tuccia. She is known for an incident in which her chastity was questioned by a spurious accusation. The punishment for vestal virgins who lost their chastity were if they could not prove their innocence - were to be sentenced to immurment. In Tuccia's case, to save her reputation and life she utilized a flat perforated basket to carry water, from the

Tiber The Tiber ( ; ; ) is the List of rivers of Italy, third-longest river in Italy and the longest in Central Italy, rising in the Apennine Mountains in Emilia-Romagna and flowing through Tuscany, Umbria, and Lazio, where it is joined by the R ...

to the

Temple of Vesta The Temple of Vesta, or the aedes (Latin ''Glossary of ancient Roman religion#aedes, Aedes Vestae''; Italian language, Italian: ''Tempio di Vesta''), was an ancient edifice in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Roman Forum near the Regia and the H ...

without the water falling to the ground through the

sieve A sieve (), fine mesh strainer, or sift is a tool used for separating wanted elements from unwanted material or for controlling the particle size distribution of a sample, using a screen such as a woven mesh or net or perforated sheet m ...

. After showing she was as chaste as she said, her accuser was never heard from again. Vestal virgins were thought to possess magical powers by their service to Vesta and thus by performing this miracalous action Tuccia had not only proven her chastity but also that she was favored by Vesta. This very act was associated with one of the vestal virgins' ritual duties of fetching pure water which had never come into contact with the earth. The vestals even had special vessels to carry this water which might correspond with Tuccias sieve.

Sources for Tuccia

Tuccia's proving of her innocence is recounted in the following: :''O Vesta, if I have always brought pure hands to your secret services, make it so now that with this sieve I shall be able to draw water from the

and bring it to your temple'' (Vestal Virgin Tuccia in

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' or ''Facta et dicta memorabilia''). He worke ...

8.1.5 absol). :''Tuccia proved her innocence by carrying a

full of water from the

to the

'' ugustine, De Civitate Dei, X, 16, in Worsfold, 69 Tuccia Wellcome L0063762

The Vestal Tuccia was celebrated in

Pliny the Elder Gaius Plinius Secundus (AD 23/24 79), known in English as Pliny the Elder ( ), was a Roman Empire, Roman author, Natural history, naturalist, and naval and army commander of the early Roman Empire, and a friend of the Roman emperor, emperor Vesp ...

's ''Natural History'' (28.3) and

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

's ''Triumph of Chastity'' in ''

Triumphs ''Triumphs'' ( Italian: ''I Trionfi'') is a 14th-century Italian series of poems, written by Petrarch in the Tuscan language. The poem evokes the Roman ceremony of triumph, where victorious generals and their armies were led in procession by the ...

''. However, in

Juvenal Decimus Junius Juvenalis (), known in English as Juvenal ( ; 55–128), was a Roman poet. He is the author of the '' Satires'', a collection of satirical poems. The details of Juvenal's life are unclear, but references in his works to people f ...

's ''

Satire VI Satire VI is the most famous of the sixteen '' Satires'' by the Roman author Juvenal written in the late 1st or early 2nd century. In English translation, this satire is often titled something in the vein of ''Against Women'' due to the most obv ...

'' (famously renamed 'Against Women') he references her as one of many lascivious women.

Similarities to other stories from antiquity

Leroux Louis Hector--La Vestale Tuccia--1874

The story of Tuccia shares some similarities with that of

Quinta Claudia Quinta Claudia was a Roman matron said to have been instrumental in bringing the goddess Cybele, "Great Mother" of the gods from her shrine in Greek Asia Minor to Rome in 204 BC, during the last years of Rome's Second Punic War against Carthage. ...

, an ancient Roman matron who was accused of living an immoral life. To prove her innocence of the charges she performed a miraculous feat with the aid of the goddess Cybele. In paintings she has often been depicted as a vestal virgin. Aemilia, a vestal virgin who, when the

sacred fire of Vesta The sacred fire of Vesta was a sacred Eternal flame#Extinguished flames, eternal flame in ancient Rome. The Vestal Virgins, originally numbering two, later four, and eventually six, were Cleromancy, selected by lot and served for thirty years, te ...

went out on one occasion was accused by the priests of having neglected her duties to entertain men, prayed to Vesta for assistance, and miraculously rekindled it by throwing a piece of her garment upon the extinct embers.

Tuccia in the arts

The Vestal Virgin Tuccia (Italian: La Vestale Tuccia) or Veiled Woman (Italian: La Velata) is a marble sculpture created in 1743 by

Antonio Corradini Antonio Corradini (19 October 1688 – 12 August 1752) was an Italians, Italian Rococo sculptor from Venice. He is best known for his illusory veiled depictions of the human body, where the contours of the face and body beneath the veil are disc ...

Sieve iconography

By the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the image of Tuccia and her sieve had become associated with the virtue of

chastity Chastity, also known as purity, is a virtue related to temperance. Someone who is ''chaste'' refrains from sexual activity that is considered immoral or from any sexual activity, according to their state of life. In some contexts, for exampl ...

. Paintings of chaste women would often include a sieve, and this symbol figures prominently in many depictions of England's "Virgin Queen"

Elizabeth I Elizabeth I (7 September 153324 March 1603) was List of English monarchs, Queen of England and List of Irish monarchs, Ireland from 17 November 1558 until her death in 1603. She was the last and longest reigning monarch of the House of Tudo ...

in the late sixteenth century.

Other

There is a crater named after Tuccia on the asteroid

4 Vesta Vesta (minor-planet designation: 4 Vesta) is one of the largest objects in the asteroid belt, with a mean diameter of . It was discovered by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthias Olbers on 29 March 1807 and is named after Vesta (mytho ...

References