Salii

In ancient Roman religion, the Saliī (/ˈsæliˌaɪ/, Latin pronunciation: ['sʌlɪiː]) 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 embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak (paludamentum), a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called ancīlia, 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.