Ancile
The ancile was the sacred shield of Mars that fell from heaven in the reign of Numa Pompilius, Rome's second king, and was kept as a pledge that the city would rule the world as long as the shield was preserved. Fearing theft, Numa had the smith Mamurius Veturius make eleven identical copies, so that the twelve shields carried in procession by the Salian priests could not be told apart, and the legend adds that Mamurius asked as his only reward that his name be sung in the Salian hymn. Plutarch, Ovid in the Fasti, and Servius all tell the story, and the Salii struck the bronze ancilia with sta