79.—Symbols of Rome.details

79.—Symbols of Rome.

Out of copyright (called public domain in the USA), hence royalty-free stock image for all purposes usage credit requested
Please do not redistribute without permission, since running this site is expensive.

The woodcut shows two naked boys (the babies Romulus and Remus, founders of Rome) being suckled by a wolf in a cave. On top of all is the Roman eagle with the laurel wreath of victory; below are Roman spears, the bundles of sticks under which a conquering army must pass (maybe?) a banner SPQR, helmts, a shield, an eagle banner, a quiver of arrows, a sword in its scabbard or sheath, a battering ram and some books, although the Romans used scrolls rather than books.

The acronym SPQR stands for Senatus Populusque Romanus which is, The Senate and the People of Rome, used as the signature of the government, for example on inscriptions and coins and more famously on the standards carried into battle by the Roman legions. The eagle has always been the symbol of a warlike nation, so the enduring memory of Rome is of a conquoring nation.

The woodcut is signed by the engraver, Jackson.

See text in context

weapons, mythology, animals, children, nudity

0079-Symbols-of-Rome-q75-500x353.jpg

2400 dots per inch