Tum mihi post sacras monstratur Iunius idus Utilis et nuptis, utilis esse viris, Primaque pars huius thalamis aliena reperta est, Nam mihi sic coniunx sancta Dialis ait; ‘Donec ab Iliaca placidus purgamina Vesta Detulerit flavis in mare Thybris aquis, Non mihi detonsos crines depectere buxo, Non ungues ferro subsecuisse licet, Non tetigisse virum, quamvis Iovis ille sacerdos, Quamvis perpetua sit mihi lege datus. Tu quoque ne propera. Melius tua filia nubet Ignea cum pura Vesta nitebit humo.’ What is the meaning of this singular aspect of the Vesta-cult? Why should these days be so ill-omened or so sacred that during them marriages might not be celebrated, and the priestess of Jupiter might not hold any intercourse with her husband, cut her hair, or pare her nails? And what is the explanation of the annotation Q[uando] St[ercus] D[elatum] F[as][598], which on the 15th indicated the breaking of the spell, and a return to ordinary ways of life? Before attempting to answer these questions, it will be as well to say a few words about the nature and probable origin of the worship of Vesta. Owing to the remarkable vitality and purity of this cult throughout the whole of Roman history, we do not meet here with those baffling obscurities which so often beset us in dealing with deities that had lost all life and shape when Roman scholars began to investigate them. And yet we know that we are here in the presence of rites and ideas of immemorial antiquity.