Fasces (, a ''plurale tantum'', from the Latin word ''fascis'', meaning "bundle") are a bundle of wooden sticks with an axe blade emerging from the center, which is an image that traditionally symbolizes summary power and jurisdiction, and/or "strength through unity". Fasces frequently occur as a charge in heraldry, and should not be confused with the related term, ''fess'', which in French heraldry is called a ''fasce''.
Numerous governments and other authorities have used the image of the ''fasces'' for a symbol of power since the end of the Roman Empire. It has also been used to hearken back to the Roman republic, particularly by those who see themselves as modern-day successors to the old republic and/or its ideals. Italian Fascism, which derives its name from the ''fasces'', arguably used this symbolism the most in the 20th century. The British Union of Fascists also used it in the 1930s. However, unlike (for example) the swastika, the ''fasces'', as a widespread and long-established symbol in the West, has avoided the stigma associated with much of fascist symbolism, and many authorities continue to display them, including the federal government of the United States.
The ''fasces lictoriae'' ("bundles of the lictors") 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. Bearers of fasces preceded consuls (and proconsuls), praetors (and propraetors), dictators, curule aediles and the Flamen Dialis. During triumphs (public celebrations held in Rome after a military conquest) heroic soldiers — those who had suffered injury in battle — 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''.
Fasces-symbolism might derive — via the Etruscans — from the eastern Mediterranean, with the labrys, the Anatolian and Minoan double-headed axe, later incorporated into the praetorial fasces. There is little archaeological evidence.
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; within the city, that power rested with the people through the assemblies. However, during times of emergencies when the Roman Republic declared a dictatorship ''(dictatura)'', lictors attending to the dictator kept the axe-blades even inside the ''Pomerium'' — a sign that the dictator had the ultimate power in his own hands. But in 48 BC, guards holding bladed fasces guided Vatia Isauricus to the tribunal of Marcus Caelius, and Vatia Isauricus used one to destroy Caelius's magisterial chair (''sella curulis'').
The fasces typically appeared in a context reminiscent of the Roman Republic and/or of the Roman Empire. The French Revolution has used many references to the ancient Roman Republic in its imagery. During the First Republic, topped by the Phrygian cap, the fasces is a tribute to the Roman Republic and means that power belongs to the people. It also symbolizes the "unity and indivisibility of the Republic", as stated in the French Constitution. In 1848 and after 1870, it appears on the seal of the French Republic, held by Liberty. There is always the fasces in the arms of the French Republic with the "RF" for ''République française'' (see image below), surrounded by leaves of olive tree (as a symbol of peace) and oak (as a symbol of justice). While it is widely used by French officials, this symbol never was officially adopted by the government.
The fasces appears on the helmet and the buckle insignia of the French Army's Autonomous Corps of Military Justice, as well as on that service's distinct cap badges for the prosecuting and defending lawyers in a court-martial.
The following cases all involve the adoption of the fasces as a symbol or icon; no actual physical re-introduction has occurred.
Category:Symbols Category:Ancient Roman government Category:National symbols of France
ast:Fasces bg:Фасции ca:Feix romà de:Fasces es:Fasces fr:Fasces gl:Fasces ko:속간 it:Fascio littorio he:פסקס ka:ფასცები la:Fasces hu:Fasces nl:Fasces ja:ファスケス no:Fasces pl:Fasces pt:Fasces ru:Фасции sv:Fasces tr:Fasces uk:Фасції vi:Fasces zh-yue:束棒 zh:束棒This text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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