SALII. — Priests of the Roman religion, who are also found in various centers of Latium (Alba, Lavinio, Tusculo, Anagni, Ariccia, Tivoli), although there is no specific information about their local organization. At Rome, the S. form two priestly sodalities of 12 members each, distinguished as S. palatini and S. collini or agonenses, with their seat, respectively, on the Palatine and the Quirinal.
According to some indications, the latter may have been priests of the god Quirinus: a possibility that cannot be excluded, given that at Tivoli S. of Hercules Victor are known, from which it may be inferred that not all S. were necessarily connected with the cult of Mars. But what is known concerning the Roman priestly activity of the S. falls exclusively within the sphere of the cult of Mars: during this god’s great festival cycles, in March and October, the S. carry around the god’s sacred weapons (spears and the 12 ancilia, sacred shields) and publicly perform their war dances (hence the popular etymology: S. a saliendo). Their ritual costume likewise alludes to war, being identical to the uniform of the Roman hoplite. The S. are headed by a magister. They are elected by co-optation from among men of patrician rank whose parents are both alive and married according to the rite of confarreatio. All this indicates the antiquity of their institution, which tradition attributes to King Numa or traces back even to pre-Roman origins (Arcadian, Samothracian, or Etruscan). The archaic language of the carmen Saliare, the ritual chant of the S., was studied from the very beginnings of Roman literary culture.