Dear group;
How does anybody know that it's a Roman symbol? It sure doesn't look Roman to me! I happen to know something of the ancient Roman culture and that definitely does not resemble a Roman carving. The Romans were quite meticulous in everything they did, and this included the arts, therefore based upon prior study of known Roman artwork I would say that this so-called *snake* is NOT Roman in origin.
Any Roman worth his toga would have known better than to provide such a shoddy, haphazard example, especially if one of his superiors happened to stroll past. Why, to view such a sloppy rendering would have garnered ten lashes upon the hapless carvers' back and he would have felt fortunate at such a small measure of justice. At best, if caught carving such a pity example of a snake such as the one pictured above, the carver in question would have faced a life in the Roman version of the entertainment industry, namely becoming a gladiator.
It's not enough that some people insist on insulting certain Christian orders, but now they are going after the Romans! Indeed!
Your not going to put down the gladius till I get an apology from someone friend;
LAMAR