ABSTRACT
This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book offers new approaches to understanding of how fourth-century notions of "sacred virginity" were construed and negotiated in Latin West of Late Antiquity. It argues that virgins such as Vestals, as well as other contemporary "borderline virgins" that continued to challenge and shape ongoing definitions of what qualified as virginity, ought to be more fully acknowledged in studies of virginity in Late Antiquity. The book discusses some socially important aspects of virginity that attributed to elevated and sacred status of consecrated virgin in Rome in this period – aspects that were at least partially independent of religious affiliation. It provides a discussion of perhaps the most significant demarcation line, namely consecrated virgins' loss of virginity. The notion of borderline virginities is indeed inspired by very ground-breaking work that has been done in field of Late Antiquity studies over the last four decades.
