Asclepius Caduceus and Snake

An Asclepius' caduceus - the rod with a snake coiled around it - can still be seen engraved in one of the marble walls surrounding the Tiber Island in Rome. The worship of the snake "was introduced into Rome at the time of the Great Plague at the beginning of the third century B.C. (as told by Livy in Book XI), and the temple on the island of Tiber became a famous resort"¹.

In this last photo, the profile of god Asclepius (head and shoulders) is also evident.

• Photos 1-3 by Luca Borghi ti.supmacinu|ihgrob.l#| (September 2009) and 4 by Erika Rocco and Ludovica Bellerani (November 2022)

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Footnotes

1. W.Osler, The Evolution of Modern Medicine, Yale University Press, New Have 1921, p. 49. Sir William Osler also gives a photograph of the Aesculapian serpent of the Tiber Island on the following page of his famous book.