This carved block shows a caduceus, the winged staff entwined with two snakes carried by Hermes, messenger of the gods and protector of travelers and merchants. The relief along Curetes Street is often pointed out to visitors and is sometimes associated with medicine, though in antiquity the healer's symbol was the single-snake staff of Asclepius.
Ephesus, on the Aegean coast of Anatolia, was one of the great cities of the Greek and Roman world. Under Rome it was the capital of the province of Asia, with a population estimated at well over 100,000, and it was famous for the Temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders.
