Re: what do the snakes on the caduceus symbolize?

It is a staff, carried by Hermes, the messenger of the gods, as a symbol of 
peace. Among the ancient Greeks and Romans it became the badge of heralds 
and ambassadors, signifying their inviolability. Originally the caduceus 
was a rod or olive branch ending in two shoots and decorated with garlands 
or ribbons. Later the garlands were interpreted as two snakes entwined in 
opposite directions with their heads facing; and a pair of wings, in token 
of Hermes' speed, was attached to the staff above the snakes. Its 
similar to the staff of Asclepius the healer (a staff branched at the 
top and entwined by a single serpent) and has resulted in modern times the 
adoption of the caduceus as a symbol of the physician and as the emblem of 
the U.S. Army Medical Corps