In
ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
, the Salii ( , ) were the "leaping priests" (from the verb ''saliō'' "leap, jump") of
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury (planet), Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Mars (mythology), Roman god of war. Mars is a terr ...
supposed to have been introduced by King
Numa Pompilius
Numa Pompilius (; 753–672 BC; reigned 715–672 BC) was the legendary second king of Rome, succeeding Romulus after a one-year interregnum. He was of Sabine origin, and many of Rome's most important religious and political institutions are a ...
. They were twelve
patrician
Patrician may refer to:
* Patrician (ancient Rome), the original aristocratic families of ancient Rome, and a synonym for "aristocratic" in modern English usage
* Patrician (post-Roman Europe), the governing elites of cities in parts of medieval ...
youths, dressed as archaic warriors: an embroidered
tunic
A tunic is a garment for the body, usually simple in style, reaching from the shoulders to a length somewhere between the hips and the knees. The name derives from the Latin ''tunica'', the basic garment worn by both men and women in Ancient Rome ...
, a
breastplate
A breastplate or chestplate is a device worn over the torso to protect it from injury, as an item of religious significance, or as an item of status. A breastplate is sometimes worn by mythological beings as a distinctive item of clothing. It is ...
, a short red cloak (''
paludamentum
In Republican and Imperial Rome, the ''paludamentum'' () was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders (e.g., the ''legatus'') and rather less often by their troops. As supreme commander of the whole Roman army, Roman e ...
)'', a sword, and a spiked headdress called an
apex
The apex is the highest point of something. The word may also refer to:
Arts and media Fictional entities
* Apex (comics), a teenaged super villainess in the Marvel Universe
* Ape-X, a super-intelligent ape in the Squadron Supreme universe
*Apex ...
. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called
''ancilia'', 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
The ''Carmen Saliare'' is a fragment of archaic Latin, which played a part in the rituals performed by the Salii (Salian priests, a.k.a. "leaping priests") of Ancient Rome. There are 35 extant fragments of the ''Carmen Saliare'', which can be r ...
''.
Ovid
Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...
, who relates the story of Numa and the heavenly ''ancilia'' in his ''
Fasti
In ancient Rome, the ''fasti'' (Latin plural) were chronological or calendar-based lists, or other diachronic records or plans of official and religiously sanctioned events. After Rome's decline, the word ''fasti'' continued to be used for simil ...
'' (3.259–392), found the hymn and the Salian rituals outdated and hard to understand. During the
Principate
The Principate is the name sometimes given to the first period of the Roman Empire from the beginning of the reign of Augustus in 27 BC to the end of the Crisis of the Third Century in AD 284, after which it evolved into the so-called Dominate.
...
, by decree of the Senate,
Augustus
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
' 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
Tullus Hostilius (r. 672–640 BC) was the legendary third king of Rome. He succeeded Numa Pompilius and was succeeded by Ancus Marcius. Unlike his predecessor, Tullus was known as a warlike king who according to the Roman Historian Livy, believ ...
is said to have established another
collegium
A (plural ), or college, was any association in ancient Rome that acted as a legal entity. Following the passage of the ''Lex Julia'' during the reign of Julius Caesar as Consul and Dictator of the Roman Republic (49–44 BC), and their reaff ...
of Salii in fulfillment 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
The patricians (from la, Wikt:patricius, patricius, Greek language, Greek: πατρίκιος) were originally a group of ruling class families in ancient Rome. The distinction was highly significant in the Roman Kingdom, and the early Roman Rep ...
, and appeared to have been dedicated to the service of
Quirinus
In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''.
Name
Attestations
The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman sourc ...
. They were called the Salii collini, 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.
The Salii are sometimes credited with the opening and closing of the war cycle which would last from March to October.
Founder
In addition to the myth of the ''ancile'', several other explanations are offered in Greek and Latin sources for the founding of the priesthood. An origin among the Etruscans is attributed to a founding by
Morrius, king of
Veii
Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...
. The Salii are also given an origin in connection with
Dardanus and the
Samothracian Di Penates
In ancient Roman religion, the Di Penates () or Penates ( ) were among the ''dii familiares'', or household deities, invoked most often in domestic rituals. When the family had a meal, they threw a bit into the fire on the hearth for the Penates. ...
, and the
Salius
In Greek and Roman mythology, Salius is an Acarnanian who in one alternative tradition was the legendary founder of the ancient Roman priesthood of the Salii.
Varro says that Salius had come to Italy with Evander, the Arcadian king to whom several ...
who came to Italy with Evander and in the ''
Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin Epic poetry, epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Troy, Trojan who fled the Trojan_War#Sack_of_Troy, fall of Troy and travelled to ...
'' competed in the
funeral games
Funeral games are athletic competitions held in honor of a recently deceased person. The celebration of funeral games was common to a number of ancient civilizations. Athletics and games such as wrestling are depicted on Sumerian statues dating ...
of
Anchises
Anchises (; grc-gre, Ἀγχίσης, Ankhísēs) was a member of the royal family of Troy in Greek and Roman legend. He was said to have been the son of King Capys of Dardania and Themiste, daughter of Ilus, who was son of Tros. He is most fam ...
.
Indeed in book VIII of
The Aeneid
The ''Aeneid'' ( ; la, Aenē̆is or ) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who fled the fall of Troy and travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the R ...
, while in the land of
King Evander Aeneas
In Greco-Roman mythology, Aeneas (, ; from ) was a Trojan hero, the son of the Trojan prince Anchises and the Greek goddess Aphrodite (equivalent to the Roman Venus). His father was a first cousin of King Priam of Troy (both being grandsons ...
is entertained by the Salii during a feast, who are commemorating the fame and feasts of
Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
.
Ancient authors quoted by
Maurus Servius Honoratus
Servius was a late fourth-century and early fifth-century grammarian. He earned a contemporary reputation as the most learned man of his generation in Italy; he authored a set of commentaries on the works of Virgil. These works, ''In tria Vir ...
and
Macrobius
Macrobius Ambrosius Theodosius, usually referred to as Macrobius (fl. AD 400), was a Roman provincial who lived during the early fifth century, during late antiquity, the period of time corresponding to the Later Roman Empire, and when Latin was ...
recorded that Salii had existed at
Tibur
Tivoli ( , ; la, Tibur) is a town and in Lazio, central Italy, north-east of Rome, at the falls of the Aniene river where it issues from the Sabine hills. The city offers a wide view over the Roman Campagna.
History
Gaius Julius Solinu ...
,
Tusculum
Tusculum is a ruined Roman city in the Alban Hills, in the Latium region of Italy. Tusculum was most famous in Roman times for the many great and luxurious patrician country villas sited close to the city, yet a comfortable distance from Rome ( ...
and
Veii
Veii (also Veius; it, Veio) was an important ancient Etruscan city situated on the southern limits of Etruria and north-northwest of Rome, Italy. It now lies in Isola Farnese, in the comune of Rome. Many other sites associated with and in the ...
even before their creation in Rome.
Interpretations of the rituals
There is no single standing description of the Salii's rituals throughout the month of March from one of the ancient authors, and facts have to be reconstructed from multiple mentions in diverse works; however there are strong indications that the procession may actually have lasted a full 24 days, from March 1st which opened the festival till March 24th which closed it, with the procession moving from one station to another each day, and some revelling being held each evening; a complete assessment can be found in Smith, Wayte, & Marindin (1890).
Wissowa
Classical
philologist
Philology () is the study of language in oral and written historical sources; it is the intersection of textual criticism, literary criticism, history, and linguistics (with especially strong ties to etymology). Philology is also defined as th ...
Georg Wissowa
Georg Otto August Wissowa (17 June 1859 – 11 May 1931) was a German classical philologist born in Neudorf, near Breslau.
Education and career
Wissowa studied classical philology under August Reifferscheid at the University of Breslau ...
maintained that the ritual of the Salii is a
war dance
A war dance is a dance involving mock combat, usually in reference to tribal warrior societies where such dances were performed as a ritual connected with endemic warfare.
Martial arts in various cultures can be performed in dance-like settin ...
or a
sword dance
Sword dances are recorded throughout world history. There are various traditions of solo and mock-battle (Pyrrhic) sword dances from Africa, Asia and Europe.
General types of sword dance include:
*solo dancers around swords – such as t ...
, with their costumes clearly indicating their military origin.
Dumézil
Georges Dumézil
Georges Edmond Raoul Dumézil (4 March 189811 October 1986) was a French philologist, linguist, and religious studies scholar who specialized in comparative linguistics and mythology. He was a professor at Istanbul University, École pratique d ...
interpreted the rituals of the Salii as marking the opening and the closing of the yearly war season. The opening would coincide with the day of the
Agonium Martiale on March 19, and the closing with the day of the
Armilustrium
In ancient Roman religion, the Armilustrium was a festival in honor of Mars, the god of war, celebrated on October 19.H.H. Scullard, ''Festivals and Ceremonies of the Roman Republic'' (Cornell University Press, 1981), p. 195. On this day the weapo ...
on October 19. The first date was also referred to as ''ancilia movere'', "to move the ''ancilia''," and the second as ''ancilia condere'', "to store (or hide) the ''ancilia''."
Dumezil views the two groups of Salii — one representing Mars and the other Quirinus — as a dialectic relationship showing the interdependency of the military and economic functions in Roman society.
Usener
Because the earliest
Roman calendar
The Roman calendar was the calendar used by the Roman Kingdom and Roman Republic. The term often includes the Julian calendar established by the reforms of the Roman dictator, dictator Julius Caesar and Roman emperor, emperor Augustus in the ...
had begun with the month of March,
Hermann Usener
Hermann Karl Usener (23 October 1834 – 21 October 1905) was a German scholar in the fields of philology and comparative religion.
Life
Hermann Usener was born at Weilburg and educated at its Gymnasium. From 1853 he studied at Heidelberg, ...
thought the ceremonies of the ''ancilia movere'' were a ritual expulsion of the old year, represented by the mysterious figure of
Mamurius Veturius
In ancient Roman religion, the Mamuralia or ''Sacrum Mamurio'' ("Rite for Mamurius") was a festival held on March 14 or 15, named only in sources from late antiquity. According to Joannes Lydus, an old man wearing animal skins was beaten ritually ...
, to make way for the new god Mars born on March 1. On the
Ides of March
The Ides of March (; la, Idus Martiae, Late Latin: ) is the 74th day in the Roman calendar, corresponding to 15 March. It was marked by several religious observances and was notable in Rome as a deadline for settling debts. In 44 BC, it became ...
, a man ritually named as Mamurius Veturius was beaten with long white sticks in the ''sacrum Mamurii'', in Usener's view as a form of
scapegoat
In the Bible, a scapegoat is one of a pair of kid goats that is released into the wilderness, taking with it all sins and impurities, while the other is sacrificed. The concept first appears in the Book of Leviticus, in which a goat is designate ...
ing. Mamurius was the mythic blacksmith who forged eleven replicas of the original divine shield that had dropped from the sky.
According to Usener and
Ludwig Preller
Ludwig Preller (15 September 1809 – 21 June 1861) was a German philologist and antiquarian.
Biography
Born in Hamburg, he studied at University of Leipzig, Leipzig, University of Berlin, Berlin and University of Göttingen, Göttingen, in 18 ...
Mars would be a god of war and fertility while Mamurius Veturius would mean "Old Mars". Mars is himself a dancer, and the head of the Salian dancers, patrician young men whose parents were both living (''patrimi'' and ''matrimi''). Wissowa compares the Salii with the noble youth who dance the ''
Lusus Troiae
The ''Lusus Troiae'', also as ''Ludus Troiae'' and ''ludicrum Troiae'' ("Troy Game" or "Game of Troy") was an equestrian event held in ancient Rome. It was among the ''ludi'' ("games"), celebrated at imperial funerals, temple foundings, or in hon ...
''. The ritual dance of the Salii would thus be a coalescence of an
initiation
Initiation is a rite of passage marking entrance or acceptance into a group or society. It could also be a formal admission to adulthood in a community or one of its formal components. In an extended sense, it can also signify a transformation ...
into adulthood and war with a scapegoat ritual (see also ''
pharmakos
A pharmakós ( el, φαρμακός, plural ''pharmakoi'') in Ancient Greek religion was the ritualistic sacrifice or exile of a human scapegoat or victim.
Ritual
A slave, a cripple, or a criminal was chosen and expelled from the community at tim ...
)''.
Others
Other 19th-century scholars have compared the rituals of the Salii with the
Vedic myths of
Indra
Indra (; Sanskrit: इन्द्र) is the king of the devas (god-like deities) and Svarga (heaven) in Hindu mythology. He is associated with the sky, lightning, weather, thunder, storms, rains, river flows, and war. volumes/ref> I ...
and the
Maruts
In Hinduism, the Maruts (; sa, मरुत), also known as the Marutagana and sometimes identified with Rudras, are storm deities and sons of Rudra and Prisni. The number of Maruts varies from 27 to sixty (three times sixty in RV 8.96.8). The ...
.
Nomenclature
* Numa's Salii Palatini were dedicated to Mars surnamed ''
Gradivus'' (meaning "he who walks into battle"), and were quartered on the
Palatine Hill
The Palatine Hill (; la, Collis Palatium or Mons Palatinus; it, Palatino ), which relative to the seven hills of Rome is the centremost, is one of the most ancient parts of the city and has been called "the first nucleus of the Roman Empire." ...
.
* Tullus' Salii Collini were dedicated to
Quirinus
In Roman mythology and religion, Quirinus ( , ) is an early god of the Roman state. In Augustan Rome, ''Quirinus'' was also an epithet of Janus, as ''Janus Quirinus''.
Name
Attestations
The name of god Quirinus is recorded across Roman sourc ...
, and were quartered on the
Quirinal Hill
The Quirinal Hill (; la, Collis Quirinalis; it, Quirinale ) is one of the Seven Hills of Rome, at the north-east of the city center. It is the location of the official residence of the Italian head of state, who resides in the Quirinal Palace ...
.
Rosinus called them ''Agonenses Salii''. The second group of Salii may in fact have been created during an Augustan reorganization of the priesthood. Paulus ex Festo p. 10 M reads: ''... Agones dicebant montes, Agonia sacrificia quae fiebant in monte; hinc Romae mons Quirinalis Agonus et Collina Porta Agonensis'': "Agones were called the mounts, Agonia the sacrifices that took place on the mounts; hence in Rome the Quirinal mount (is named) Agonus and the Porta Collina Agonensis".
Salian virgins
Sextus Pompeius Festus
Sextus Pompeius Festus, usually known simply as Festus, was a Roman grammarian who probably flourished in the later 2nd century AD, perhaps at Narbo (Narbonne) in Gaul.
Work
He made a 20-volume epitome of Verrius Flaccus's voluminous and encyclo ...
makes a perplexing reference to "Salian virgins" (''saliae virgines''). Wearing the ''
paludamentum
In Republican and Imperial Rome, the ''paludamentum'' () was a cloak or cape fastened at one shoulder, worn by military commanders (e.g., the ''legatus'') and rather less often by their troops. As supreme commander of the whole Roman army, Roman e ...
'' and pointed ''apex'' of the Salii, these maidens were employed to assist the
College of Pontiffs
The College of Pontiffs ( la, Collegium Pontificum; see ''collegium'') was a body of the ancient Roman state whose members were the highest-ranking priests of the state religion. The college consisted of the '' pontifex maximus'' and the other '' ...
in carrying out sacrifices in the
Regia
The Regia ("Royal house") was a two-part structure in Ancient Rome lying along the Via Sacra at the edge of the Roman Forum that originally served as the residence or one of the main headquarters of kings of Rome and later as the office of the ...
. It has been suggested that the passage in Festus describes a
transvestite
Transvestism is the practice of dressing in a manner traditionally associated with the opposite sex. In some cultures, transvestism is practiced for religious, traditional, or ceremonial reasons. The term is considered outdated in Western c ...
initiation. An earlier explanation held that the maidens played the role of absent warriors in some form of
propitiation
Propitiation is the act of appeasing or making well-disposed a deity, thus incurring divine favor or avoiding divine retribution. While some use the term interchangeably with expiation, others draw a sharp distinction between the two. The discuss ...
. The meaning of their being "hired" is unclear.
References
;Notes
;Sources
*
*
{{Authority control
Ancient Roman religious titles
Ares