Beheading of Two Kings by Order of a Roman Emperor

From his throne, a Roman emperor orders an executioner to behead a blindfolded king. The head of the second king already lies severed on the ground. Beside the emperor, a pleading man is held back by several soldiers. This print illustrates the second part of the fundamental principle of Roman politics recorded by Virgil: "Parcere subiectis, sed debellare superbos" (Virgil, Aeneid 6.853). According to this principle, the subjects would be spared, but those who stubbornly continued to resist were destroyed. Pendant of a print on the first part of this maxim.