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SALII

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 71 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.

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SALII , the " dancers," an old See also:

ITALIAN

Italian priesthood, said to have been instituted by Numa for the service of See also:

Mars, although later tradition derived them from See also:

GREECE

Greece. They were originally twelve in number, called Salii Palatini to distinguish them from a second See also:

COLLEGE (Collegium)

college of twelve, Salii Agonales or Collini, said to have been added by Tullus Hostilius; the Palatini were consecrated to Mars, the Collini to See also:

QUIRINUS

Quirinus. All the members were See also:

PATRICIANS (Lat. patricius, an adjectival form from pater, father; not, as some say, from pater and ciere, to call)

patricians, vacancies being filled by co-optation from See also:

young men whose parents were both living; membership was for See also:

LIFE

life, subject to certain exceptions. The officials of the college were the magister, the praesul, and the vates (the leaders in See also:

dance and See also:

SONG

song). Each college had the care of twelve sacred See also:

SHIELDS, JAMES (181b-1879)

shields called ancilia. According to the See also:

story, during the reign of Numa a small See also:

OVAL (Lat. ovum, egg)

oval See also:

shield See also:

fell from See also:

HEAVEN (0. Eng. hefen, heofon, heofone; this word appears in O.S. hevan; the High. Ger. word appears in Ger. Himmel, Dutch hemel; there does not seem to be any connexion between the two words, and the ultimate derivation of the word is unknown; the sugges

heaven, and Numa, in See also:

order to prevent its being stolen, had eleven others made exactly like it. They were the See also:

WORK

work of a See also:

smith named Mamurius Veturius, probably identical with the See also:

god Mamers (Mars) himself. These twelve shields (amongst which was the See also:

ORIGINAL

original one) were in See also:

charge of the Salii Palatini. The greater See also:

PART

part of See also:

March (the See also:

BIRTH (a word common in various forms to Teutonic languages from the root of the verb " to bear ")

birth-See also:

month of Mars), beginning from the 1st, on which See also:

day the ancile was said to have fallen from heaven and the campaigning See also:

SEASON (0. Fr. seson, seison, mod. saison, Lat. satio, sowing time, the spring, from serere, to sow; in Late Lat. the word is found with its present meaning, the spring being considered as particularly the season of the year)

season began, was devoted to various ceremonies connected with the Salii. On the 1st, they marched in procession through the See also:

CITY (through Fr. cite, from Lat. civitas)

city, dressed in an embroidered See also:

TUNIC (0. Eng. tunice, tunical, taken, before the Norman con-quest, directly from Lat. tunica, of which the origin is unknown)

tunic, a brazen See also:

BREAST (a word common to Teutonic languages, cf. the Ger. Brust, possibly connected with an O. Sax. brustian, to bud)

breast-See also:

PLATE

plate and a peaked cap; each carried a See also:

SWORD (0. Eng. sweord; ultimately from an Indo-European root meaning to wound)

sword by his See also:

side and a See also:

SHORT, FRANCIS JOB (1857– )

short See also:

STAFF (O. Eng. staef, cf. Du. staf, Ger. Stab, &c.; Icel. stafr meant also a written letter, and O. Eng. stafas, the letters of the alphabet; " stave," one of the thin pieces of wood of which a cask is made, is a doublet)

staff in his right See also:

hand, with which the shield, See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne on the See also:

LEFT

left See also:

ARM (a common Teutonic word; the Indo-European root is ar, to join or fit; cf. the Lat. armus, shoulder, and the plural word arma, weapons, Gr. apphs, joint, and the reduplicated apapilKSV, to join)

arm, was struck from See also:

time to time. A See also:

HALT

halt was made at the altars and temples, where the Salii, singing a See also:

SPECIAL

special See also:

CHANT (derived through the Fr. from the Lat. cantare, to sing; an old form is " chaunt ")

chant, danced a See also:

war dance. Every day the procession stopped at certain stations (mansiones), where the shields were deposited for the See also:

NIGHT

night, and the Said partook of a banquet (see See also:

HORACE [QuINTus HORATIUS FLACCUS] (65-8 B.C.)

Horace, Odes, i.

37. 2). On the next day the See also:

pro-cession passed on to another mansio; this continued till the 24th, when the shields were replaced in their See also:

SACRARIUM

sacrarium. During this See also:

period the Salii took part in certain other festivities: the Equirria (Ecurria) on the 14th, a See also:

CHARIOT (derived from an O. Fr. word, formed from char, a car)

chariot See also:

RACE

race in See also:

HONOUR (Lat. honos or lwnor, honoris; in English the word was spelled with or without the u indifferently until the 17th century, but during the 18th century it became fashion-able to spell the word " honor "; Johnson's and Webster's Dictionaries stereoty

honour of Mars on the Campus See also:

MARTIUS, CARL FRIEDRICH PHILIPP VON (1794—1868)

Martius (in later times called Mamuralia, in honour of Mamurius), at which a skin was beaten with staves in See also:

IMITATION (Lat. imitatio, from intitari, to imitate)

imitation of hammering; the Quinquatrus on the 19th, a one-day festival, at which the shields were cleansed; the Tubilustrium on the 23rd, when the trumpets of the priests were purified. On the 19th of See also:

OCTOBER

October, at the Armilustrium or See also:

PURIFICATION

purification of arms, the ancilia were again brought out and then put away for the See also:

winter. The old chant of the Salii, called axamenta, was written in the old Saturnian See also:

METRE ((terpuc?, sc. rFxvf, from Gr. Or poi', measure)

metre, in See also:

LANGUAGE (adapted from the Fr. langage, from langue, tongue, Lat. lingua)

language so archaic that even the priests themselves could hardly understand it. See See also:

QUINTILIAN [MARCUS FABIUS QUINTILIANUS] (C. A.D. 35-95)

Quintilian, Instil. i. 6. 40; also J. See also:

Wordsworth, Fragments and Specimens of See also:

Early Latin (1874). The best See also:

account of the Salii generally will be found in See also:

MARQUARDT, JOACHIM (1812–1882)

Marquardt, Romische Staatsverwaltung, iii. (1885) pp.

427-438.

End of Article: SALII

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