The life of a virtuous man ought to be so clean that it will not admit even of a suspicion of wrong-doing. Aeschines. Against Timarchus. Speech 1. Section 48.
Image: Artist's rendition of the ceremonial dance of the Salii, the leaping priests of Mars courtesy of Eagles and Dragons Publishing.
In ancient Roman religion, the Salii were the "leaping priests" 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, a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex. They were charged with the twelve bronze shields called ancilia, 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.
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