What is "salii"

In ancient Roman religion, the Saliī (, ) were the "leaping priests" (from the verb saliō "leap, jump") of Mars supposed to have been introduced by King Numa Pompilius. They were twelve patrician youths, dressed as archaic warriors: an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak ( paludamentum), a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called ancīlia, which, like the Mycenaean shield, resembled a figure eight. One of the shields was said to have fallen from heaven in the reign of King Numa and eleven copies were made to protect the identity of the sacred shield on the advice of the nymph Egeria, consort of Numa, who prophesied that wherever that shield was preserved, the people would be the dominant people of the earth.

Each year in March the Salii made a procession round the city, dancing and singing the Carmen Saliare. Ovid, who relates the story of Numa and the heavenly ancīle in his Fasti (3.259–392), found the hymn and the Salian rituals outdated and hard to understand. During the Principate, by decree of the Senate, Augustus' name was inserted into the song ( Res Gestae 10). They ended the day by banqueting. Saliaris cena became proverbial for a sumptuous feast.

King Tullus Hostilius is said to have established another collegium of Salii in fulfilment of a vow which he made in the second war with Fidenae and Veii. These Salii were also twelve in number, chosen from the patricians, and appeared to have been dedicated to the service of Quirinus. They were called the Saliī collīnī, Agonales, or Agonenses.

It is unclear whether the primary aim of the ritual was to protect Rome's army, although this is the traditional view.