Saliens (brotherhood)

The Saliens are Roman priests dedicated to the worship of Mars and whose creation went up according to the tradition with the king Numa Pompilius. According to the history Roman Varron, the etymology of their name would be the Latin verb salire , (to jump) or salitare (to dance) ( of lingua latina , 85). Their college which was recruited by co-optation among the Patricien S, was divided into two groups of 12 members:

  • Saliens of the Palatine
  • Saliens of the Quirinal.
These two sacerdotal colleges fall in disuse at the end from the République and alone that of Saliens of Palatine is given to the honor by Auguste within the framework of the reforms nun accompanying its reign. Saliens were placed under the supervision of Jupiter, Mars, Quirinus, the gods of the old triad précapitoline. The principal function of Saliens was the guard of the twelve crowned Boucliers, of which one had been given to the men by the god Mars, and had been discovered by Numa. To avoid any flight or profanation against this crowned object, it had made make 11 identical copies and dissimulate the original among those.

Moreover, Saliens governed the two festivals which, in March ( Quinquatrus ) and in October ( Armilustrum , purification of the weapons), framed the season of the war and whose principal ceremony, in March, consisted of a procession through Rome regularly punctuated by a dance crowned accompanied by songs, during which Saliens, covered Trabea, struck their shield with a lance. In the beginnings indeed, the Romans made the war only March at October.

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