A sceptre or scepter is a symbolic ornamental staff held by a ruling monarch, a prominent item of kingly regalia. It resembles a mace.AntiquityA rod or staff has long represented authority. Among the early Greeks the sceptre was a long staff, such as Agamemnon wielded (Iliad, i) or was used by respected elders (Iliad, xviii. 46; Herodotus 1. 196), and came to be used by judges, military leaders, priests and others in authority. It is represented on painted vases as a long staff tipped w