[fas-eez] 
) | a bundle of rods containing an ax with the blade projecting, borne before Roman magistrates as an emblem of official power. |
| 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.] |
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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