The Salii were the "leaping priests" of Mars in Ancient Rome: twelve patrician youths, dressed in outfits worn by archaic warriors. This clothing consisted of an embroidered tunic, a breastplate, a short red cloak, a sword, and a spiked headdress called an apex. They were charged with the 12 bronze ancilia shields. These shields resembled a figure-of-eight, like Mycenaean shields. One of the shields was said to have fallen from heaven in the reign of King Numa Pompilius, and eleven copies were m… (More on Salii)