Titus Livius asserts that Roman magistrates had no right to conclude a treaty (foedus) without the authorization of the Roman people and without resorting to the ceremonial of fetial priests, which included the killing of a piglet with a flint stone. He maintains that all treaties have been concluded in this way since the reign of Tullus Hostilius. Moderns have given credence to these statements, deducing that magistrates could only enter into provisional or private agreements. In reality, the Romans practiced other rites to validate treaties under the Republic, performed by magistrates. Their oaths had the same binding value for the Roman people as the oath of the fetial priests; these foedera were valid from the moment the oaths were exchanged, even if they had not been ratified by the Senate and the people.