Fasces
Fasces (the plural, almost a
plurale tantum, of the
Latin word
fascis, meaning
bundle) symbolise summary
power and
jurisdiction.
The traditional
Roman fasces consisted of a bundle of
birch rods tied together with a red ribbon as a cylinder around an
axe.
Numerous governments and other authorities have used the image of the
fasces as a
symbol of power since the end of the
Roman Empire.
Italian fascism, which derives its name from the
fasces, arguably used this symbolism the most in the 20th century. However, unlike for example the
swastika, the
fasces have avoided the
stigma associated with fascist symbolism, and many authorities continue to display them.
|
"With one hand he returns the fasces, symbol of power as appointed dictator of Rome. His other hand holds the plow, as he resumes the life of a citizen and farmer." â€" A statue of Cincinnatus in Cincinnati, Ohio. |
The
fasces lictoriae ("bundles of the
lictors") (in Italian,
fascio littorio)
symbolised power and authority (
imperium) in ancient
Rome. A corps of
apparitores (subordinate officials) called
lictors each carried fasces as a sort of
staff of office before a magistrate, in a number corresponding to his rank, in public ceremonies and inspections, and bearers of fasces preceded
praetors,
propraetors,
consuls,
proconsuls,
Masters of the Horse,
dictators, and
Caesars. During
triumphs (public celebrations held in Rome after a military conquest) heroic soldiers â€" those who had suffered injury in battle â€" carried fasces in procession.
Roman historians recalled that twelve lictors had ceremoniously accompanied the
Etruscan kings of Rome in the distant past, and sought to account for the number and to provide etymologies for the name
lictor.
The symbolism of the fasces at one level suggested strength through unity. The bundle of rods bound together symbolizes the strength which a single rod lacks. The rods symbolized the state's power to punish delinquents. The axe represented the ultimate power of high justice to execute (
decapitate), and has a long history in the eastern Mediterranean - such as the
labrys, the
Anatolian and
Minoan double-headed axe, which were later incorporated into the
praetorial fasces.
Traditionally, fasces carried within the
Pomerium - the limits of the sacred inner City of Rome - had their axe blades removed. This signified that under normal political circumstances, the
imperium-bearing magistrates did not have the judicial power of life and death; that power rested, within the city, with the people through the assemblies. However, during times of emergencies when the Roman Empire was placed under a dictatorship
(dictatura),
lictors attending to the dictator kept the axe blades even inside the
Pomerium â€" a sign that the dictator had the ultimate power in his own hands. But in
48 BC, guards holding bladed fasces guided
Isauricus to the tribunal of
Marcus Caelius, and Isauricus used one to destroy Caelius's magisterial chair (
sella curulis).
The following cases all involve the adoption of the fasces as a symbol or icon; no actual physical re-introduction has occurred.
*
Napoleon and the
French Revolution; this emblem remains on the front cover of French
passports and as part of the
French coat of arms* The Spanish paramilitary police
Guardia Civil* In the
1920s, Italian
Fascism, adapating aesthetic elements of ancient Rome attempted to portray itself as a revival of its Roman imperial past, adopted the fasces for its symbol, as an emblem of the increased strength of the individual
fascis when bound into the entire bundle.
* Used as part of the
Knights of Columbus emblem (designed in 1883)
* At the
Lincoln Memorial, Lincoln's seat of state bears the fasces on the fronts of its arms.
* The fasces appears on the
state seal of Colorado, USA, beneath the
All-seeing eye and above the mountains and mines.
* Two fasces appear on either side of the
flag of the United States in the
United States House of Representatives, representing the power of the
lower house and the
country.
* The official seal of the
United States Senate has as one component a pair of crossed fasces.
* A frieze on the facade of the
Supreme Court building depicts the figure of a Roman
Centurion holding a fasces, to represent "order." [
1]
* The reverse of the United States
"Mercury" dime (minted from 1916 to 1945) bears the design of a
fasces and an olive branch.
* On the seal of the
New York City borough of
Brooklyn, a figure carries a fasces; the seal appears on the borough flag.
* Both the
Norwegian and the
Swedish police use double fasces in their logos.
*
fascio (usage
1890s to
World War I)
*
ferula*
Labrys*
staff of office*
fascine*
francisca*
A definition*
Fasces on flags*
The fasces as Ancient Roman icon
