Salute to Rome

Roser 02 (Chip)

A former Roman salute.

It became popular in Germany around 1900.

Jacques-Louis David’s painting Oath of the Horatii (1784) seems to be the starting point for the gesture that became known as the Roman salute.  The gesture and its identification with ancient Rome was advanced in other French neoclassic art.  This was further elaborated upon in popular culture during the late 19th and early 20th centuries in plays and films that portrayed the salute as an ancient Roman custom.  – Winkler (2009) p. 2