CHAP. 3. (3.)—WHEN SHIELDS WERE FIRST INVENTED WITH
PORTRAITS UPON THEM; AND WHEN THEY WERE FIRST ERECTED
IN PUBLIC.
So far as I can learn, Appius Claudius, who was consul
with P. Servilius, in the year of the City, 259, was the first to
dedicate shields [Note] in honour of his own family in a sacred or
public place. [Note] For he placed representations of his ancestors
in the Temple of Bellona, and desired that they might be
erected in an elevated spot, so as to be seen, and the inscriptions
reciting their honours read. A truly graceful device;
more particularly when a multitude of children, represented
by so many tiny figures, displays those germs, as it were,
which are destined to continue the line: shields such as these,
no one can look at without a feeling of pleasure and lively
interest.
