of Romulus' birth and that of the more credible Fabius Pictor which he describes in a detailed narrative and lends support to. Conception of Servius Tullius Dionysius of Halicarnassus recounts a local story regarding the birth of king Servius Tullius. In it, a phallus rose from the hearth of Vesta in Numa's palace, and Ocresia was the first to see it. She immediately informed the king and queen. King Tarquinius, upon hearing this, was astonished; but Tanaquil, whose knowledge of divination was well-known, told him it was a blessing that a birth by the hearth's phallus and a mortal woman would produce superior offspring. The king then chose Ocresia to have intercourse with it, for she had seen it first. During which either Vulcan, or the tutelary deity of the house, appeared to her. After disappearing, she conceived and delivered Tullius. This story of his birth could be based on his name as Servius would euphemistically mean "son of servant", because his mother was a handmaiden. Impropriety of Priapus In book 6 of Ovid's Fasti: Cybele invited all the gods, satyrs, rural divinities, and nymphs to a feast, though Silenus came uninvited with his donkey. At it, Vesta lay at rest, and Priapus spotted her. He decided to approach her in order to violate her; however, the ass brought by Silenus let out a timely bray: Vesta was woken and Priapus barely escaped the outraged gods. Mentioned in book 1 of the Fasti is a similar instance of Priapus' impropriety involving Lotis and Priapus. The Vesta-Priapus account is not as well developed as that involving Lotis, and critics suggest the account of Vesta and Priapus only exists to create a cult drama. Ovid says the donkey was adorned with necklaces of bread-bits in memory of the event. Elsewhere, he says donkeys were honored on 9 June during the Vestalia in thanks for the services they provided in the bakeries. Vesta outside Rome Vesta's cult is attested at Bovillae, Lavinium and Tibur. The Alban Vestals at Bovillae (Albanae Longanae Bovillenses) were supposedly a continuation of the original Alban Vestals, and Lavinium had the Vestals of the Laurentes Lavinates, both orders rooted in ancient traditions that were thought to predate Rome's foundation. In a later period, Tibur's vestals are attested epigraphically. Vestals might have been present at the sanctuary of Diana Nemorensis near Aricia. See also Clerical celibacy House of the Vestals