(σκῆπτρον, a staff), was originally a wooden staff or support for the aged and infirm, and in course of time came to signify also a weapon of defence and assault; and from the privilege of habitually carrying it, it became emblematic of authority and station. The ancient Greek authors represent the sceptre as belonging more appropriately to kings, princes, and leaders of the people; but it was likewise borne by judges, heralds, priests, and seers. The transmission of the sceptre from father to son denoted the transfer of authority from the one member of a family to the other. The original wooden staff became, in consequence, a highly emblematic, and, of course, also a highly ornamental instrument. It was sometimes pierced with gold and silver studs, sometimes it was enriched with gems and ivory. The Roman kings and Roman consuls bore an ivory sceptre; and their divinities, Jupiter and Juno, as sovereigns over the rest of the deities, were represented with a sceptre, in token of their supreme authority. (Homeric Iliad, xviii. 416; ii. 46, 186, etc.; and i. 246.)