cādūcĕum, i, n. (sc. sceptrum or baculum), or cādūcĕus, i, m. (sc. scipio or baculus; which form was predominant in the class. per. is doubtful, since neither Cicero, Nepos, Livy, nor Pliny uses the word in the nom.) [kindr. with κηρύκειον, Aeolic καρύκιον, —ῦ—, r changed to d, as ad = ar],
a herald’s staff , the token of a peaceable embassy (orig. an olive- stick, with στέμματα, which afterwards were formed into serpents, O. Müll. Archaeol. § 379, 3): caduceus pacis signum, Var. de Vita Pop. Rom.lib. ii.;