The nymph Egeria met Numa Pompilius by night in her sacred grove near the Porta Capena, whispering the divine laws and rituals he would impose on Rome. When Numa died, she dissolved into tears and was transformed into a spring by Diana.
During Numa Pompilius's reign, the Ancile fell from heaven into the king's hands as a divine pledge of Rome's survival. Numa commissioned eleven copies from the smith Mamurius Veturius and entrusted all twelve to the Salii priests he established.
Numa Pompilius established many of the religious rites performed on the Capitoline Hill, including the institution of the flamines and the sacred calendars that governed worship at Jupiter's temple.
According to Plutarch, Numa Pompilius received prophecy from Faunus and Picus by capturing them with wine and binding them until they revealed divine wisdom for establishing Rome's religious institutions.
Numa Pompilius traditionally established the rituals of Janus worship and restructured the Roman calendar, making January the gateway month under Janus's divine patronage.
Numa Pompilius trapped the woodland gods Picus and Faunus to learn Jupiter's secret rite for calling down lightning. Jupiter, amused and impressed by the king's cunning, taught Numa the ritual of Jupiter Elicius and sent the sacred ancile falling from the sky as a pledge of Rome's safety.
Numa Pompilius consecrated a grove and spring to the Camenae near the Porta Capena, establishing Rome's oldest cult of prophetic song — the native tradition that later merged with the Greek Muses.
Numa Pompilius founded the Salii priesthood after an ancile fell from heaven as a divine pledge of Rome's safety. He established their ritual dances, songs, and processions as part of his religious reforms.
Numa Pompilius traditionally established the cult of Terminus and the Terminalia festival, consecrating boundary stones as sacred and prescribing the rituals for setting and honoring them. Plutarch credits Numa with making the boundary god central to Roman property law.
Numa Pompilius, Rome's second king, established the order of the Vestal Virgins and built the first Temple of Vesta in the Forum, institutionalizing her cult as central to Roman state religion.
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