vitta, ae, f. [vieo], a band, esp. a fillet or chaplet worn round the head; and, in relig. lang., a head-band, a sacrificial or sacerdotal fillet, Ov. M. 2, 413; 4, 6; 5, 110; Prop. 4 (5), 11, 34; Verg. A. 2, 133; 10, 538; Luc. 5, 142; Val. Fl. 1, 480; Ov. M. 13, 643; Juv. 12, 118.
Represented as worn by poets, a symbol of their sacred office, or, acc. to Serv., in token of divine honors, Verg. A. 6, 665.
Also by brides and Vestal virgins, regarded as a symbol of chastity: capite compto crinis vittasque habeat, adsimuletque se Tuam esse uxorem, Plaut. Mil. 3, 1, 197; Tib. 1, 6, 67; Ov. P. 3, 3, 51; Prop. 4 (5), 11, 34; cf. Ov. A. A. 1, 31; id. Tr. 2, 247; id. R. Am. 386.
Bound around the altar, Verg. E. 8, 64; id. A. 3, 64; or on sacred trees, Ov. M. 8, 744; borne by suppliants for protection or pardon, Verg. A. 7, 237; 8, 128; Hor. C. 3, 14, 8; Ov. A. A. 2, 401 al.