Note 627 — Chapter XIII · THE KINGS OF ROME AND ALBA

Ovid, Fasti, vi. 129-168. A Roman bride on the way to her husband’s house was preceded by a boy bearing a torch of buckthorn (spina alba, Festus, s.v. “Patrimi,” p. 245, ed. C. O. Müller; Varro, quoted by Nonius Marcellus, De compendiosa doctrina, s.v. “Fax,” p. 116, ed. L. Quicherat). The intention probably was to defend her from enchantment and evil spirits. Branches of buckthorn were also thought to protect a house against thunderbolts (Columella, De re rustica, x. 346 sq.).