 It was also because the virgins' ritual concern extended to the agricultural cycle and ensured a good harvest that Vesta enjoyed the title of "Mater" ("Mother").The fecundating power of sacred fire is testified in Plutarch's version of the birth of Romulus, the birth of king Servius Tullius (in which his mother Ocresia becomes pregnant after sitting upon a phallus that appeared among the ashes of the ara of god Vulcanus, by order of Tanaquil wife of king Tarquinius Priscus) and the birth of Caeculus, the founder of Praeneste.All these mythical or semilegendary characters show a mystical mastery of fire, e.g., Servius's hair was kindled by his father without hurting him, his statue in the temple of Fortuna Primigenia was unharmed by fire after his assassination.