The apex (plural: ''apices'') was a cap worn by certain priests, the flamines and

Salii In ancient Roman religion, the Salii ( , ) 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 emb ...

, in

ancient Rome In modern historiography, ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom (753–509 BC ...

. The essential part of the apex, to which alone the name properly belonged, was a pointed piece of olive-wood, the base of which was surrounded with a lock of wool. This was worn on the top of the head, and was held there either by fillets only, or, as was more commonly the case, was also fastened by means of two strings or bands, which were called ''apicula'', or ''offendices'', though the latter word is also interpreted to mean a kind of button, by which the strings were fastened under the chin. The flamines were forbidden by law to go into public, or even into the open air without the apex, and hence we find the expression of ''alicui apicem dialem imponere'' used as equivalent to the appointment of a ''

Flamen Dialis In ancient Roman religion, the was the high priest of Jupiter. The term ''Dialis'' is related to ''Diespiter'', an Old Latin form of the name ''Jupiter''. There were 15 '' flamines'', of whom three were ''flamines maiores'', serving the thre ...

''. Sulpicius was deprived of the priesthood, only because the apex fell from his head whilst he was sacrificing. Dionysius of Halicarnassus describes the cap as being of a conical form. On ancient monuments we see it round as well as conical. The albogalerus, or albus galerus was a white cap worn by the flamen dialis, made of the skin of a white victim sacrificed to Jupiter, and had the apex fastened to it by means of an olive-twig. From apex was formed the epithet ''apicatus'', applied to the flamen dialis by

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 ...

.Fast. iii.197

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Apex (Headdress) Caps