The Arch of the Sergii exemplifies late Hellenistic-Roman architecture. Why then do its spandrels sport apparently Christian angels? In fact, they represent a goddess called "Winged Victory." (Been to Paris? One of its greatest (but headless) Greek statues stands as one the three ladies of Paris's Louvre. Guys don't always notice that it's headless.) Goddess Victory is an appropriate memorial of the great battle of Actium, and of one of its local warriors (even though the town itself bet on the wrong side and was later leveled by the winner.)The Greek name for this goddess was "Nike" and yes, the arch-golfer Tiger Wood's many swoosh logos trace their lineage directly from her. The Romans named her "Victoria." Tiger has not been behaving in a Victorian manner lately; perhaps his role model was not the goddess Nike but rather the U.S. Army's early missile system named after her. Not all of us have evolved that far from the club-carrying homo erectus whose remains were found in a quarry 3 miles from here.
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