is said to have been the armourer who made the eleven ancilia exactly like the one that was sent from heaven in the reign of Numa. His praises formed one of the chief subjects of the songs of the Salii. (Plut. Num. 13; Ov. Fast. 3.384; Dionys. A. R. 2.71 ; Festus, s. v. Mam. Vet. ; comp. Dict. of Antiq. s. v. Salii.) Even the ancients themselves doubted in the reality of his existence : Varro interpreted his name as equivalent to vetus memoria (Varr. L. L. 6.46, ed. Müller.) Some modern writers regard Mamurius Veturias as an Etruscan artist, because he is said to have made a brazen image of the god Vertumnus. (Propert. 4.2. 61; comp. Müller, Etrusker, vol. ii. p. 252.)
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology
Smith, William
A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology. William Smith, LLD, ed. 1890