 However, the Roman desire to prevent the kingship from becoming important went so far that, even in the area of religion, the king of sacrifices was formally, in all but protocol, subordinated to the first of the pontiffs, the "pontifex maximus" (whose position in origin, rather than with the name of priest, is better described as "minister of religion"), to the extent that at some point in history, the "regia" or royal palace at the Forum Romanum, originally inhabited by the king of sacrifices, was ceded to the pontifex maximus.Significantly enough, one of his major public appearances was at the festival of "Regifugium", where he impersonated the king being thrown out of the city.Further, the consuls retained religious roles which were considered so important that the office of "interrex" was retained for the opening prayer of "electional" assemblies in the event that both consuls died in office, and the ritual of driving a nail into the temple of Jupiter sometimes even induced a dictatorship.