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fasces - 5 dictionary results

fas⋅ces

  [fas-eez]
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–noun (usually used with a singular verb)
a bundle of rods containing an ax with the blade projecting, borne before Roman magistrates as an emblem of official power.
Origin:
1590–1600; < L, pl. of fascis bundle, pack
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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fas·ces   (fās'ēz')   
pl.n.  A bundle of rods bound together around an ax with the blade projecting, carried before ancient Roman magistrates as an emblem of authority.

[Latin fascēs, pl. of fascis, bundle.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Fasces

Fas"ces\, n. pl. [L., pl. of fascis bundle; cf. fascia a band, and Gr. fa`kelos a bundle.], (Rom. Antiq.) A bundle of rods, having among them an ax with the blade projecting, borne before the Roman magistrates as a badge of their authority.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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fasces 
1598, from L. fasces "bundle of rods containing an axe with the blade projecting" (pl. of fascis "bundle" of wood, etc.), carried before a lictor, a superior Roman magistrate, as a symbol of power over life and limb: the sticks symbolized punishment by whipping, the axe head execution by beheading. Probably cognate with M.Ir. basc "neckband," Welsh baich "load, burden," O.E. bæst "inner bark of the linden tree."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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fasces

(plural form of Latin fascis: "bundle") in ancient Rome, insignia of official authority. It was carried by the lictors, or attendants, and was characterized by an ax head projecting from a bundle of elm or birch rods about 5 feet (1.5 metres) long and tied together with a red strap; it symbolized penal power. When carried inside Rome, the ax was removed (unless the magistrate was a dictator or general celebrating a triumph) as recognition of the right of a Roman citizen to appeal a magistrate's ruling. The discovery of a miniature iron set of fasces in a 7th-century BC Etruscan tomb at Vetulonia confirms the traditional view that Rome derived the fasces from the Etruscans. The Roman emperors, beginning with Augustus in 19 BC, had 12 fasces, but, after Domitian (reigned AD 81-96), they had 24; dictators, 24; consuls, 12; praetors, 6; legates, 5; priests, 1. Lowering of the fasces was a form of salute to a higher official.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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