Book I.8 - Romulus initiates laws {Primae Decadis Liber Primus, p. XIr} c. 16th century

Curator: Looking at this intriguing woodcut, "Book I.8 - Romulus initiates laws," I am struck by the raw, almost brutal simplicity of the lines. Editor: It feels like a stage setting for a very serious play, doesn't it? The way the figures are arranged, so stiff and frontal, reminds me of early morality plays. Curator: It’s interesting how the anonymous artist depicts Romulus here, seated above the crowd, holding a book, presumably of laws. We see the very moment of the establishment of civic order. Editor: That book looks suspiciously small for the entire Roman legal code! But seriously, what I find fascinating is how the artist conveys authority through such minimal means. The slight elevation, the gesture of the hand—it’s all so deliberate. Curator: Absolutely. And consider the context. Images like this were often part of printed books, circulating ideas about governance and the role of law in society. It’s visual propaganda, in a sense. Editor: Visual propaganda with a kind of stark, almost childlike quality. You know, thinking about it, it's both simple and profound. Curator: I agree. It serves as a reminder that even the grandest systems of law and power start with a single moment, a single act of declaration. Editor: It does leave you pondering how narratives are constructed and how the act of law-giving itself becomes a staged performance.