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SCEPTRE

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Originally appearing in Volume V24, Page 309 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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SCEPTRE . A See also:

rod or See also:staff has always been regarded as a token of authority. Among the See also:early Greeks the sceptre (rici irrpov) was a See also:long staff used by aged men (Il. xviii. 416, See also:Herod. 1. 196), and came to be used by See also:judges, military leaders, priests and others. It is represented on painted vases as a long staff tipped with a See also:metal See also:ornament, and is See also:borne by some of the gods. Among the Etruscans sceptres of See also:great magnificence were used by See also:kings and upper orders of the priesthood, and many representations of such sceptres occur on the walls of the painted tombs of See also:Etruria. The See also:British Museum, the Vatican and the Louvre possess See also:Etruscan sceptres of See also:gold, most elaborately and minutely ornamented. The See also:Roman sceptre was probably derived from the Etruscan. Under the See also:Republic an See also:ivory sceptre (sceptrum eburneum) was a See also:mark of consular See also:rank It was also used by victorious generals who received the See also:title of imperator, and it may be said to survive in the See also:marshal's See also:baton. Under the See also:empire the sceptrum See also:Augusti was specially used by the emperors, andwas often of ivory tipped with a See also:golden See also:eagle.

It is frequently shown on medallions of the later empire, which have on the obverse a See also:

half-length figure of the See also:emperor, holding in one See also:hand the sceptrum Augusti, and in the other the See also:orb surmounted by a small figure of Victory. With the See also:advent of See also:Christianity the sceptre was often tipped with a 'See also:cross instead of the eagle, but during the See also:middle ages the finials on the See also:top of the sceptre varied considerably. In See also:England from a very early See also:period two sceptres have been concurrently used, and from the See also:time of See also:Richard I. they have been distinguished as being tipped with a cross and a See also:dove respectively. In See also:France the royal sceptre was tipped with a fleur de lys, and the other, known as the See also:main de See also:justice, had an open hand of See also:benediction on the top. Sceptres with small shrines on the top are sometimes represented on royal See also:seals, as on the great See also:seal of See also:Edward III., where the See also:king, enthroned, bears such a sceptre, but it was an unusual See also:form ; and It is of See also:interest to See also:note that one of the sceptres of See also:Scotland, preserved at See also:Edinburgh, has such a See also:shrine at the top, with little images of Our See also:Lady, St See also:Andrew and St See also:James in it. This sceptre was, it is believed, made in France about 1536, for James V. Great seals usually represent the See also:sovereign enthroned, holding a sceptre (often the second in dignity) in the right hand, and the orb and cross in the See also:left. Harold is so depicted on the See also:Bayeux See also:tapestry. The earliest See also:coronation form of the 9th See also:century mentions a sceptre (sceptrum), and a staff (baculum). In the so-called coronation form of See also:Ethelred II. a sceptre (sceptrum), and a rod (virga) are named, and this is also the See also:case with a coronation See also:order of the 12th century. In a contemporary See also:account of Richard I.'s coronation the royal sceptre of gold with a gold cross, and the gold rod (virga) with a gold dove on the top, are mentioned for the first time. About 1450 Sporley, a See also:monk of See also:Westminster, compiled a See also:list of the See also:relics there.

These included the articles used at the coronation of St Edward the See also:

Confessor, and left by him for the coronations of his successors. A golden sceptre, a wooden rod gilt and an See also:iron rod are named. These survived till the See also:Commonwealth, and are minutely described in an See also:inventory of the whole of the See also:regalia See also:drawn up in 1649, when everything was destroyed. For the coronation of See also:Charles II. new sceptres were made, and though slightly altered, are still in use. They are a sceptre with a cross called St Edward's sceptre, a sceptre with a dove, and a long sceptre or staff with a cross of gold on the top called St Edward's staff. To these, two sceptres for the See also:queen, one with a cross, and the other with a dove, have been subsequently added. See See also:Cyril See also:Davenport, The See also:English Regalia; See also:Leopold Wickham-Legg, English Coronation Records; The Ancestor, Nos. r and 2 (1902); See also:Menin, The Form, &c., of Coronations_ (English See also:translation, 1727).

End of Article: SCEPTRE

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SCEPTICISM (o-Kesrroµai, I consider, reflect, hesi... 		[next]
SCEVE, MAURICE (c. 1500-1564)

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