Back of the Temple was the House of the Vestals, a structure with a plain exterior, differing little from the ordinary private dwellings.

Here Drusus had his litter set down for a second time, and notified the porter that he would be glad to see his aunt and sister.

The young man was ushered into a spacious, handsomely furnished and decorated atrium, where were arranged lines of statues of the various _maximae_[48] of the little religious order.

A shy young girl with a white dress and fillet, who was reading in the apartment, slipped noiselessly out, as the young man entered; for the novices were kept under strict control, with few liberties, until their elder sisters could trust them in male society.

Then there was a rustle of robes and ribbons, and in came a tall, stately lady, also in pure white, and a little girl of about five, who shrank coyly back when Drusus called her his "Liviola"[49] and tried to catch her in his arms.