The most recognizable symbols of Rome

[vergilius]

I must say that a legionair with the typical lorica segmentata and a nice crested helmet would be the most recognizible for most people. Talking about actual symbols I think it must be the wolf with remus and romulus underneath

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

When I was a kid, playing Julius caesar....sounds familiar.. :roll: , We used to mark everything with SPQR, to show it was now 'Roman' :lol:

Chalk was a highly sought after commodity in our 'empire'

[Hibernicus]

digitus impudicus of course!

.... though most folk don't equate it with Rome.

:lol:

[Marcus Caecilius Avitus]

Talking about actual symbols I think it must be the wolf with remus and romulus underneath

I understood that the original statue was of the she wolf and the suckling twins were a post Roman addition to this. :?

[Jona Lendering]

SPQR is ubiquitous in modern Rome

That's Mussolini indeed and I wonder whether that is also the reason SPQR is so widely recognized now.

No, jokes like "Soli Porchi Qui Regnano" and "Sono Porci Questi Romani" date back to the nineteenth-century poet Belli. Rabelais judged Rome to be "Si Peu Que Rien", and Pasquino joked in 1870 (after the fall of the pope) "Sanctus Pater Quondam Rex". Hawthorne -if I recall correctly- notes that someone once said to him "So Please Quit Rome".

Talking about actual symbols I think it must be the wolf with remus and romulus underneath

I understood that the original statue was of the she wolf and the suckling twins were a post Roman addition to this. :?

It's worse: the entire statue dates back to the sixth or seventh century. Anno Domini. It was published in 2006.

[Theodosius the Great]

It's worse: the entire statue dates back to the sixth or seventh century. Anno Domini.

Really ? Anno Domini ?! I always read that the she-wolf statue was Etruscan. :?

But either way, why is it worse ? Anything earlier than the Renaissance would be better, right ? The infants were supposedly added at that period.

~Theo

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

But you have the symbology of the wolf and infants on earlier belt plates?
:?

[Tarbicus]

Denarius from 137 BC:

[url:3ugv8au8]http://www.vroma.org/images/mcmanus_images/wolfcoin2.jpg[/url]

[Jona Lendering]

It's worse: the entire statue dates back to the sixth or seventh century. Anno Domini.

Really ? Anno Domini ?! I always read that the she-wolf statue was Etruscan. :?

One of the articles is here.
But either way, why is it worse ?[/quote]
No esthetic judgment intended. I meant that it's not just the twins that is post-Roman, but the entire statue.

And of course, the Romans used the symbol itself - but not this particular one, the Capitoline she-wolf.

[Theodosius the Great]

Wow, thanks for the link, Jona !

Very interesting. So the author believes the technology that made the single cast bronze was beyond the abilities possessed by either the early Romans or the Etruscans.

Well, at least the coin that Tarbicus posted above proves that the symbol itself of the she-wolf suckling Romulus and Remus is authentic. Perhaps the statue is a copy of a now lost statue made with the more modern techniques of the 8th century ? Just a thought.

No esthetic judgment intended. I meant that it's not just the twins that is post-Roman, but the entire statue.

I see. I just meant that at least the statue is about 7 centuries closer to the time of the Western Empire than the twins which were added much later.

Vale.

~Theo

[Gaius Julius Caesar]

But the image it self is very old, and a recognisable image associated with Rome, which is the point here.

[Muzzaguchi]

Hi all,

Well... since it is my PhD topic, I would argue that (one of) the most ubiquitous symbols and ideas which represented Rome to Romans and non-Romans was the camp. The Roman camp was recognised as unique to them and their system of warfare.

Now I can't shoot my own research in the foot but, throughout history from at least Polybius onwards it is the camp which exemplifies everything Roman - discipline, order, aggression, defence, safety ...

If you look at the imagery associated with the camp it remains on the whole, consistent for the whole period 146 BC - 400 AD whic, it itself is remarkable.

There was also art and coinage which depicted camps at various stages in the empire.

There were also of course the physical reminders of the many camps and fortifications themselves on the frontiers of the camp (and around the empire in what were once frontiers or disputed areas) . These would have served as a constant reminder of what Rome and her military were.

Now ... all I have to do is write the thing.

Cheers

Murray

[Cassius Tullius]

A peaceful and if not prosperous at least comfortable town or village of whitewashed buildings with red tiled roofs. Unless it is in a troubled province then most likely without walls. Ubiquitous legionaires from a nearby fort.

The market. The woman doing their laundry at the fountain built for that purpose. People congregating in the town square. The slave auctions. Farmers working in their fields. Crafstpeople crafting and displaying their wares.

[M. CVRIVS ALEXANDER]

In The Fourth Book of Ezra, a Jewish work of the late 1st century CE, chapters 11-12 present the Roman empire as an eagle. Also, the reference to eagles in Gospel of Luke 17:37, is probably an indication of the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman legions.

[Jona Lendering]

In The Fourth Book of Ezra, a Jewish work of the late 1st century CE, chapters 11-12 present the Roman empire as an eagle. Also, the reference to eagles in Gospel of Luke 17:37, is probably an indication of the coming destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman legions.

Good point!!! The standards are also mentioned in the Scrolls of the Dead Sea: in 1QpHab 5.12-7.5 to be precise. 1Q = first cave of Qumran; p = pesher (Armaic commentary on a Hebrew Bible book); Hab = Habakuk. The writer of that commentary notes that the Kittim = Romans sacrifice to their standards, a reference to Pompey's capture of Jerusalem in 63 BCE.