Between 114 and 113 BC, Rome was torn by nascent civil strife and fear of the impending migrations—and invasions—of the Cimbri and Teutons. Furthermore, the Gracchi era had recently ended, with its effects reflected in the power of the equestrian order, which could serve as a counterbalance to the nobilitas. In this climate, a certain fanaticism flourished, along with greater attention to supposed omens, which were exploited by the warring political factions, who understood that the religious sphere could serve as a valid alternative to the civil sphere, even though in Rome the two spheres were closely intertwined.

The first to strike were the optimates in 114 BC: the slave Manius, perhaps manipulated by them, accused the Vestal Virgins Aemilia, Licinia, and Marcia of incestum, that is, a crime against religion and sexual morality; in this case, of having violated their vow of chastity. A Vestal Virgin, in fact, was required to remain chaste for the entire duration of her priesthood, corresponding to thirty years, under penalty of burial alive. As for their alleged seducer, he was identified as the knight Veturius, leading one to suppose an attack on the equestrian order, which was fighting the oligarchy for control of the courts. The Dalmaticus pontiff, although a supporter of the optimates, must have recognised the speciousness of the accusations, but, unlike the other defendants, he was unable to save Aemilia, who was condemned and buried alive.

This did not satisfy either part of the plebs or the conservative fringes, who, through the tribune Peduceus, reduced the pontiff's power and, the following year, reopened the case: despite the defense of Lucius Licinius Crassus, a relative of Licinia and the greatest orator of the time, this time all the defendants were convicted and executed; Aemilia's fellow nuns were also buried alive, while Veturius was flogged to death.

The conviction, however, did not appease the sensitive minds of the plebs, so it was deemed appropriate to proceed with the human sacrifice of two couples—probably slaves—of Gauls and Greeks, the last documented rite of its kind in Rome, to appease the wrath of the gods for the sacrilege. Such a sacrifice had already been performed during the most difficult phases of the Second Punic War, but the climate of those years prompted the Senate, in 97 BC, to officially outlaw human sacrifice. However, until the imperial age, there were still trials of the Vestal Virgins and possible burials, not considered human sacrifices but acts of reparation for a shame.