I understand the empire and military, specifically, might imbue separate meanings into their symbols, but the wolf's role as part of Rome's founding myth makes it lack of use interesting.
Does the wolf motif appear in other Roman symbology of either the Republic or Empire?
Interestingly, the wolf was once used as a military standard. Pliny the Elder says this in book 10, ch. 5 of Natural History:
"Caius Marius, in his second consulship, assigned the eagle exclusively to the Roman legions. Before that period it had only held the first rank, there being four others as well, the wolf, the minotaur, the horse, and the wild boar, each of which preceded a single division.1 Some few years before his time it had begun to be the custom to carry the eagle only into battle, the other standards being left behind in camp; Marius, however, abolished the rest of them entirely. Since then, it has been remarked that hardly ever has a Roman legion encamped for the winter, without a pair of eagles making their appearance at the spot."
The eagle was the symbol of Jupiter, the king of the gods, so it's importance as a symbol was even greater than that of the wolf. As for the wolf as a motif in other Roman art, she and the twins Romulus and Remus became a popular subject in the Republic and Empire. Here's an example of a semi-precious stone which was carved with the image. However, the famous bronze Capitoline She Wolf sculpture was found to have been made using techniques which were developed much later than the ancient period.
