However, dancing and fighting appear closely connected in the Classical world: the ancient Greeks could refer to a battlefield as the “dancing floor of Ares” and so-called “Pyrrhic dances”, in full armour, are encountered in texts and art. (For archaeological examples, see Guidi 2009.) During their processions and dances, these “warrior-priests” would bang the shields with swords or staves.Įxactly why the Salii performed a “three step” dance is unknown. The priesthood was supposedly an ancient one, which explains why the these priests carried large shields around in the form of a figure 8, which were regarded as archaic. They took part in a variety of rituals, including their particular dance. Technically, of course, processions were intended to appease the deities.Īs is to be expected, the Salii were most active in March, the month named after Mars, which marked both the beginning of the agricultural season as well as the campaigning season. Processions were an important way to draw the attention of large crowds to ritual proceedings, especially since the procession often ended at a sacred precinct, where the crowd could expect to get some meat to eat after the proper sacrifices and rituals had been concluded. The Salii were renowned for their springing, “three step” dances, which they performed in processions. This was a very ancient god associated with the spear, and perhaps another god of war. The latter is not too surprising, since ancient wars were often fought over the control of arable land.Īs regards the Collini, their name is derived from the Latin collis (hill), and probably refers to the Quirinal Hill, another of the seven hills in Rome, which was associated with Quirinus. He was not a one-to-one counterpart of the Greek Ares, since he was also a fertility god associated with agriculture. The ones on the Palatine were dedicated to Mars, the ancient Roman god of war. Livy mentions the Salii Palatini and the Salii Collini (1.27), who eached consisted of a collegium (a sodality) of twelve individuals. He is ultimately killed in combat in book 10 of the epic poem. He makes an appearance in the fifth book of Virgil’s Aeneid, where he takes part in the funeral games held for Aeneas’ father, Anchises. Livy 1.20), although others claim that the priesthood originated from Greece and may have been founded by Salius, an Acarnanian who had accompanied the Arcadian king Evander to Italy. The Salii were supposedly created by Numa, a legendary early king of Rome (e.g. The Salii, or “Jumpers”, are perhaps one of the more peculiar, specialized priesthoods. Some of these priesthoods were quite specialized. Each god and goddess usually had a temple, shrine or other holy place, and their needs were catered to by a wide array of different priests and priestesses. people worshipped a variety of different deities. I wondered who they were and how they came to be known by such a highly descriptive and odd name, and I figured that the results of my brief foray into an odd corner of Roman religion would be of interest to readers here, too.Īs you are no doubt aware, in the ancient world, most religions were polytheistic, i.e. While editing a new translation (in Dutch) of the Roman poet Catullus ( available here, if you’re curious), I came across the S alii, which the translator rendered as “jumping priests of Mars”. This article was originally published on the defunct Ancient World Magazine website and is now re-published here.
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