According to Plutarch, Romulus’ signal to the men of Rome was to be whenever he rose up to gather up his cloak and throw it over his body. When this signal was seen, the Romans were to fall on the Sabine maidens and carry them away. According to Plutarch, only virgins were abducted, with the exception of one Hersilia, who was a married woman. This, however, was said to be an accident. According to some historians, the abduction of the Sabines was not perpetrated out of lust, but out of a desire to form a strong alliance with them.