This ancient city is rich in Roman symbolism. From the she-wolf that suckled its twin founders, Romulus and Remus, to the spread eagle symbolizing the vast territorial reach of the Roman Empire, many Roman symbols have survived the centuries to become part of our collective visual culture.
This article looks at some of the most well-known Roman symbols in the history of Rome and shares some interesting facts about their origin, use, and meaning.
1. The Eagle (Aquila)
Few symbols represent Rome as powerfully as the eagle. Perched atop the legionary standard, with its wings spread wide, this fierce bird of prey represented the span of the Roman Empire.
The Romans originally placed several symbols at the top of their standards. In addition to the eagle, they used the wolf, the horse, the boar, and the human-headed ox. However, after Rome’s catastrophic defeat at the Battle of Arausio and the radical overhaul of the Roman army by Gaius Marius in 104 BC, these other symbols (signa manipuli, as they were called) were abandoned, leaving only the eagle.
The Roman symbolism representing the eagle was recovered from the Parthians, as shown in the statue of Prima Porta Augustus. The eagle continued to stand out as a symbol of the Roman army even after the arrival of Christianity as the official religion in the 4th century AD. The Arch of Constantine, the emperor who adopted Christianity as the imperial religion, shows these examples on its south attic.
2. The she-wolf (Lupa)
Docile in times of peace but fierce when provoked, the she-wolf is the symbol par excellence of Rome and its Empire. It refers to the story of Romulus and Remus, twins from Alba Longa (now Castel Gandolfo). When their grandfather, King Numitor, was expelled from the throne by his brother Amulius, the usurper ordered that the twin babies be thrown into the Tiber.
As is customary in Roman mythology and Roman symbolism, the man entrusted with the infanticide discovered that he could not carry it out. So, instead of drowning them in the river, he abandoned them on the riverbank, where they were rescued by the intervention of the river god Tiberinus and then by an unusually maternal she-wolf who happened to be passing by.
Raised in her cave (the Lupercal), the twins were suckled by the she-wolf until a passing shepherd named Faustulus found them and took them home with his wife. They then raised the twins together until they were old enough to return to Alba Longa, restore their grandfather to the throne, and fulfill their destiny of founding Rome. Well, for Romulus at least.
The Latin word lupa actually has two meanings. The first meaning of the word is “she-wolf,” referring to the animal itself. The second meaning of lupa is prostitution, referring to the sounds that the ancient ladies of the city made at night to attract their clients.
However, the she-wolf remains the main symbol within Roman symbolism. As the emblem of AS Roma, one of the city’s two main soccer teams, it appears everywhere, especially in Testaccio, where Roman soccer was born.
3. The fasces
Originating not with the Romans but with the Etruscans, the fasces have become perhaps the most enduring international symbols of Rome. Compared to the eagle or the she-wolf, the symbol itself is visually unfamiliar. However, where it survives is in language, where it gives us the root of the word “fascism.”
Since the Roman Republic, the fasces consisted of a bundle of rods bound together around a single-headed axe. Carried by Roman magistrates in numbers depending on their status, the fasces were a pure Roman symbol of power, of Rome’s dominion over its empire (imperium). The most powerful position possible, that of dictator, granted the individual 24 fasces.
When joined together, these rods symbolize strength (since when joined they are much more difficult to break). On the other hand, the axe in the center represented the magistrate’s power, that is, his prerogative to administer capital punishment.
However, within the sacred limits of the city and its Roman symbolism, magistrates were forbidden to carry fasces with protruding blades: the Roman symbolism was that only the courts of the people could administer justice.
4. The globe (globus)
Another Roman symbol that has become part of everyday symbolic life is the globe. Held by the god of gods, Jupiter, as a Roman symbol of his universal dominion, the globe appeared on many coins and statues throughout the Roman Empire. Sometimes depicted under the foot or in the hand of the emperor, it symbolized Roman rule over all the territory they had conquered.
A coin minted under Emperor Hadrian shows the goddess Salus standing on a globe. The message is quite clear, and Hadrian himself spent most of his reign traveling throughout his empire, while architects in Italy carried out projects such as the Pantheon and Villa Adriana.
Constantine went even further in emphasizing the extent of the Roman Empire’s dominion. A coin minted during his reign in the early 4th century shows the emperor holding a globe in his hand, personally attributing to himself the dizzying extent of Rome’s territorial expansion (Constantine was never one for modesty).
The rise of Christianity saw modifications to this symbol of Roman history. The most visible was the addition of the crucifix at the top of the globe, symbolizing the Christian God’s dominion over all. Even as a prominent symbol of the church dating back to the 5th century, the globus cruciger appears throughout Christian art.
The most famous example of Roman symbols is the painting Salvator Mundi (which, in the version attributed to Leonardo Da Vinci, controversially depicts the world without a cross). However, the globe appears not only in Christian symbolism, but in all contexts related to power and dominion, especially in portraits of royalty ranging from Charlemagne to Elizabeth I to demonstrate the majesty of their person and their empire.
