FASCES

Fasces

Fasces is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe with its blade emerging. The fasces had its origin in the Etruscan civilization, and was passed on to ancient Rome, where it symbolized a magistrate's power and jurisdiction. The image has survived as a representation of magisterial power. A secondary meaning of the bundling of sticks may have been "strength through unity". Fasces frequently occurs as a charge in heraldry, and should not be confused with the related term, fess, which in French heraldry is called a fasce.

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fasces

Noun

(singular fascis)
  1. A Roman symbol of judicial authority consisting of a bundle of wooden sticks, with an axe blade embedded in the centre; used also as a symbol of fascism


The above text is a snippet from Wiktionary: fasces
and as such is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

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