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"Sceptrum, which originally denoted a simple staff or walking stick, was emblematic of station and authority. In ancient authors the sceptre is represented as belonging more especially to kings, princes, and leaders of tribes: but it is also borne by judges, by heralds, and by priests and seers. The sceptre descended from father to son, and might be committed to any one in order to express the transfer of authority. Those who bore the sceptre swore by it, solemnly taking it in the right hand and raising it towards heaven. The following cut, representing Aeneas followed by Ascanius and carrying off his father Anchises, who holds the sceptre in his right hand, shows its form as worn by kings. The ivory sceptre of the kings of Rome, which descended to the consuls, was surmounted by an eagle." — Smith, 1873

Sceptrum

"Sceptrum, which originally denoted a simple staff or walking stick, was emblematic of station and authority.…