For a man to enter the Building at night meant the death penalty.

Whosoever did violence to a Vestal fell under a religious curse; he was a _homo sacer_, a "sacred man," a victim devoted to the gods, whom it was a pious deed to slay.

And thus comforted, with the assurance that the whole power of the Republic would rise for her personal defence, Fabia was fain to put the disquieting letter from her heart.
Then followed the night of panic, and the succeeding day.

There were no longer any magistrates in Rome.

The great palaces of the patricians stood deserted, exposed to the unfaithful guardianship of freedmen and slaves.