A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental staff held by a ruling monarch, a prominent item of kingly regalia. For other uses of the word staff see Staff. A staff is a large thick Stick or stick-shaped object used to help with Walking Regalia is Latin Plurale tantum for the privileges and the insignia characteristic of a Sovereign. It resembles a mace. A mace is a simple Weapon that uses a heavy head on the end of a handle to deliver powerful blows

Antiquity

A rod or staff has long represented authority. In Politics, authority ( Latin Auctoritas, used in Roman law as opposed to Potestas and Imperium The sceptre of the King of Persia is mentioned in the biblical Book of Esther. The Book of Esther is a book of the Tanakh ( Hebrew Bible) and of the Old Testament. Among the early Greeks the sceptre was a long staff, such as Agamemnon wielded (Iliad, i) or was used by respected elders (Iliad, xviii. Greece (Ελλάδα transliterated: Elláda, historically, Ellás,) officially the Hellenic Republic (Ελληνική Δημοκρατία In Greek mythology, Agamemnon (very resolute / ( ancient Greek:) is a hero, the son of King Atreus of Mycenae 46; Herodotus 1. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash 196), and came to be used by judges, military leaders, priests and others in authority. It is represented on painted vases as a long staff tipped with a metal ornament. When the sceptre is borne by Zeus or Hades, it is headed by a bird. It was this symbol of Zeus, the father of Olympus, that gave their inviolable status to the kerykes, the heralds, who were thus protected by the precursor of modern diplomatic immunity. When, in the Iliad Agamemnon sends Odysseus to the leaders of the Achaeans, he lends him his sceptre.

Among the Etruscans sceptres of great magnificence were used by kings and upper orders of the priesthood, and many representations of such sceptres occur on the walls of the painted tombs of Etruria. Etruria &mdash usually referred to in Greek and Latin source texts as Tyrrhenia &mdash was a region of Central Italy, located in an area A priest or priestess is a person having the authority or power to administer religious rites in particular rites of sacrifice to and propitiation of a deity or deities The British Museum, the Vatican and the Louvre possess Etruscan sceptres of gold, most elaborately and minutely ornamented.

The Roman sceptre probably derived from the Etruscan. Under the Republic an ivory sceptre (sceptrum eburneum) was a mark of consular rank. The Roman Republic was the phase of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a Republican form of government a period which began with the overthrow of the Consul (abbrev cos; Latin plural consules) was the highest elected office of the Roman Republic and an appointive office under the Empire It was also used by victorious generals who received the title of imperator, and its use as a symbol of delegated authority to legates apparently was revived in the marshal’s baton. A legatus (often anglicized as legate) was a general in the Roman army, equivalent to a modern general officer For other uses see Baton The word baton, from the French bâton (stick also in ordinary senses itself from Late Latin bastum Under the empire the sceptrum Augusti was specially used by the emperors, and was often of ivory tipped with a golden eagle. Eagles are large birds of prey which are members of the Bird order Falconiformes and family Accipitridae, and belong to several genera It is frequently shown on medallions of the later empire, which have on the obverse a half-length figure of the emperor, holding in one hand the sceptrum Augusti, and in the other the orb surmounted by a small figure of Victory. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial An emperor (from the Latin " Imperator " is a (male Monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an Empire or another type of The globus cruciger ( Latin, "cross-bearing orb" is an orb (lat In Roman mythology, Victoria was the personification/Goddess of victory

Christian Era

1873 Portrait of Emperor Peter II of Brazil, holding the very large Imperial Sceptre, and invested with other items of the Brazilian Crown Jewels

With the advent of Christianity the sceptre was often tipped with a cross instead of with an eagle, but during the Middle Ages the finials on the top of the sceptre varied considerably. Year 1873 ( MDCCCLXXIII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar (or a Common Pedro II, (ˈpedɾu seˈgũdu December 2, 1825 December 5, 1891) was the second and last Emperor of Brazil. Christianity ( Greek Χριστιανισμός from the word Xριστός ( Christ)is a monotheistic Religion centered on the life and teachings The finial is an architectural device typically carved in stone and employed to decoratively emphasize the Apex of a Gable, or any of various distinctive ornaments

In England from a very early period two sceptres have been concurrently used, and from the time of Richard I they have been distinguished as being tipped with a cross and a dove respectively. England is a Country which is part of the United Kingdom. Its inhabitants account for more than 83% of the total UK population whilst its mainland Richard I (8 September 1157 &ndash 6 April 1199 was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death In France the royal sceptre was tipped with a fleur de lys, and the other, known as the main de justice, had an open hand of benediction on the top.

Sceptres with small shrines on the top are sometimes represented on royal seals, as on the great seal of Edward III, where the king, enthroned, bears such a sceptre, but it was an unusual form; and it is of interest to note that one of the sceptres of Scotland, preserved at Edinburgh, has such a shrine at the top, with little images of Our Lady, Saint Andrew and Saint James in it. Edward III (13 November 1312 &ndash 21 June 1377 was one of the most successful English monarchs of the Middle Ages. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Edinburgh ( ˈɛdɪnb(ərə Dùn Èideann) is the Capital of Scotland and is its second largest city after Glasgow. This sceptre was, it is believed, made in France about 1536, for James V. James V (10 April 1512 &ndash 14 December 1542 was King of Scots from 9 September 1513 until his death Great seals usually represent the sovereign enthroned, holding a sceptre (often the second in dignity) in the right hand, and the orb and cross in the left. Harold appears thus in the Bayeux tapestry. Harold Godwinson, (c 1022 &ndash 14 October 1066 also known as Harold II, is widely regarded as the last Anglo-Saxon King of England before the The Bayeux Tapestry (Tapisserie de Bayeux is a 50 cm by 70 m (20 in by 230 ft long embroidered cloth which explains the events leading up to the 1066 Norman invasion of

The earliest English coronation form of the 9th century mentions a sceptre (sceptrum), and a staff (baculum). In the so-called coronation form of Ethelred II a sceptre (sceptrum), and a rod (virga) appear, as they do also in the case of a coronation order of the 12th century. Ethelred II ( c. 968 – 23 April 1016 also known as Æthelred II, Aethelred II, Ethelred the Unready, Æthelred the Unready In a contemporary 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, enter the historical record for the first time. Richard I (8 September 1157 &ndash 6 April 1199 was King of England from 6 July 1189 until his death About 1450 Sporley, a monk of Westminster, compiled a list of the relics there. Westminster is an area of Central London, within the City of Westminster. These included the articles used at the coronation of Saint Edward the Confessor, and left by him for the coronations of his successors. King Edward the Confessor (c 1003 &ndash 5 January 1066 son of Ethelred the Unready, was the penultimate Anglo-Saxon King of England and the last A golden sceptre, a wooden rod gilt and an iron rod are named. These survived till the Commonwealth, and are minutely described in an inventory of the whole of the regalia drawn up in 1649, when everything was destroyed. The Commonwealth of England was the Republican government which ruled first England (including Wales) and then Ireland and Scotland

For the coronation of Charles II of England new sceptres were made, and though slightly altered, they continue in use. Charles II (Charles Stuart 29 May 1630 – 6 February 1685 was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland. 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". The Sceptre with the Cross, also known as the St Edward's Sceptre, the Sovereign's Sceptre or the Royal Sceptre, is a Sceptre of the British The Sceptre with the Dove, also known as the Rod with the Dove or the Rod of Equity and Mercy is a Sceptre of the British Crown Jewels. To these, two sceptres for the queen-consort, one with a cross, and the other with a dove, have been subsequently added.

See also

• Ceremonial weapon
• Crown jewels

References

• Original text adapted from 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica