She-wolf (Roman mythology)

The "Bolsena Mirror" features a depiction of the she-wolf and the twins surrounded by human and animal figures. Differences in interpretation have precluded virtually any consensus regarding many of its features.[9] This includes its age. However, it is consistent with other such mirrors, made as bridal gifts, in 4th century BC Euritria, perhaps circa 330-340. The famous Capitoline Wolf may be of Etruscan or Old Latin origin.[10] But, a discovery during its restoration in 2000 and radiocarbon dating has cast doubt on an ancient origin.[11] A stele from Bologna, dated to between 350-400 BC, depicts an animal, possibly a wolf, nursing a single infant. By 269 BC, the silver didrachm is the earliest depiction of the complete icon, with the characteristic "turning of the she-wolf's head" backward and downward at the twins.[12]

The distinctive imagery of the she-wolf and the twins made it more recognizable than other symbols of the city, such as Roma, the patron deity of the city, or the Roman eagle. That was useful as the Roman world expanded and symbols of Rome became more important in maintaining unity.[12] By the 1st century AD, the she-wolf was common in both Rome and the provinces. She and the twins were featured on the elaborate Ara Pacis, built in honor of Augustus and dedicated to Pax, the goddess of peace.[13]

Coins with their depiction were minted and widely circulated. They were also produced in Roman Colonies as a way to express their own "Roman-ness".[14] They have been found on personal items such as swords, buckles, lamps and statuettes as well as monuments, mosaic floors and funerary stones that date from the 1st through the 3rd centuries AD.[15]

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  The controversial Mirror of Bolsena.
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  Romulus and Remus. An early silver didrachm (6.44 g). c. 269–266 BC[16]
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  Capitoline Wolf. Its ancient origin is now in doubt.

The Franks Casket, an ornately carved, Anglo-Saxon chest from the 8th–9th century, probably crafted in a monastery in Northern France, features the she-wolf and twins, along with a Runic account of the lupercal.[17] Other Anglo-Saxon artifacts and coins from the same period also feature them.[18] The Byzantines continued to use the image, and coins attributed to them have been found in various locations in central Asia at sites located in modern Tadjikistan and Uzbekistan along with an 8th-century Sogdian painted mural with a she-wolf, head turned back and down, suckling two infants.[19]

The Italian football clubs A.S. Roma[20] and S.S. Robur Siena[21] use the imagery in their respective team logos.

The Fascist government of Benito Mussolini made use of the she-wolf while in power.

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  The coat of arms of the Basque Family Ariño of Navarre[22]
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  The coat of arms of the Basque Family Artolaguirre of Donostia[22]
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  CoA mil ITA grp artiglieria 009
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  The coat of arms of the Commune of Caudebec-lès-Elbeuf, Normandy, France[23]
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  The coat of arms of Cluj County, Romania[24]
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  The coat of arms of the city of Codogno, Lombardy Italy, featuring the she-wolf leashed to a tree[25]
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  The emblem of surgeon and obstetrician to Napoleon, Baron Antoine Dubois, (1756–1837)
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  The coat of arms of the Commune of Estillac, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France[26]
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  CoA mil ITA rgt fanteria 080
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  The coat of arms of La Louviere, Wallonia, Belgium
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  The coat of arms of Năsăud County, Romania
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  The ancient coat of arms of the city of Piacenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
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  CoA mil ITA rgt genio 08
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  Emblem of the Capital Police of the Municipality of Rome[27]
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  Reconstruction of the coat of arms of Rome under Napoleon
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  CoA mil ITA scuola genio
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  The emblem of the Italian Army Signal School
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  The coat of arms of the Commune of Villeloin-Coulangé, Centre-Val de Loire, France

The Sienese have a traditional tale that the city was founded by Senius and Aschius, another pair of twins who were also suckled by a she-wolf. They were the sons of Remus and fled Rome after his death at the hands of their uncle Romulus. The legend cannot be attested to prior to the Renaissance. However, depictions of a she-wolf and twins are common in the city and some can be dated earlier.

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  Ruota della Fortuna "The Wheel of Fortune" is the Centerpiece of the mosaic inlaid floor of the Siena Cathedral (c.1372)

The she-wolf and twins appeared on what may have been the earliest silver coin ever minted in Rome.[16]

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  Sextans from c.215 BC
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  The she-wolf on a coin from c.77 BC With the head of Mars on the other side.
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  1 Romanian leu banknote, 1915.

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  Mosaic depicting the She-wolf with Romulus and Remus, from Aldborough (c.300 AD), Leeds City Museum (16025914306)

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  Replica of Fontana Maggiore of Perugia, Nocolai and Giovanni Pisano (1275), photo by G. Dall'Orto (August 5, 2006)
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  From Romuleon, an illuminated manuscript (British Library (1480)

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  Romulus and Remus, Peter Paul Rubens (1616)
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  Romulus and Remus Wenceslas Hollar after Giulio Romano, (16c.)
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  The River Tiber from the Quattro Fontane by Muzio Mattei and Domenico Fontana (late 16c.). The she-wolf can be see peeking from behind Father Tiber on the right.

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  La lupa con Romolo e Remo "The She-Wolf with Romulus and Remus", Domenico Parodi and Francesco Biggi (1874)
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  Scanned from "History of Rome", published 1860, by Henry Liddell (6 February 1811 – 18 January 1898) with illustrations provided by Sir John Gardner Wilkinson (5 October 1797 – 29 October 1875). Scanned by Man vyi
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  Romulus and Remus from Ten Tribes, sculptor: Eric Gill, photo by David Ozeransky (1932)
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  Comic History of Rome Table 01, featuring a matronly she-wolf and Picus, the woodpecker overhead. John Leech (c.1850)