Ancile

In ancient Rome, the ancilia (Latin, singular ancile) were twelve sacred shields kept in the Temple of Mars.

He ordered eleven copies made to confuse would-be thieves, since the original shield was regarded as one of the pignora imperii (pledges of rule), sacred guarantors that perpetuated Rome as a sovereign entity.

When the original ancile fell, a voice was heard which declared that Rome should be mistress of the world while the shield was preserved.

According to Ovid’s Fasti, Mamurius Veturius agreed to forge the eleven replicas of the original ancile if he was given glory by Numa and mentioned in the Carmen Salire.

[8] Maurus Servius Honoratus, an early 4th century grammarian, regards the ancile as one of the seven pignora imperii of the Roman empire in his In Vergilii Aeneidem commentarii (‘Commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid’).

Alongside the ancile, Servius lists the other six pignora: the stone of the Mother of the Gods, the terracotta chariot of the Veientines, the ashes of Orestes, the sceptre of Priam, the veil of Iliona, and the palladium.