 Complete the following phrase:  The signa militaria were the Roman military ensigns or standards. The most ancient standard employed by the Romans is said to have been a handful manipulus of straw fixed to the top of a spear or pole. Hence the company of soldiers belonging to it was called a maniple. The bundle of hay or fern was soon succeeded by the figures of animals, of which Pliny the Elder H.N. x.16 enumerates five: the eagle, the wolf, the ox with the mans head, the horse, and the boar. After the devastating Roman defeat at the 