A fasces (; Latin: [ˈfaskeːs]; a plurale tantum, from the Latin word fascis, meaning ‘bundle’; Italian: fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, often, but not always, including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian symbol that had its origin in the Etruscan civilization and was passed on to ancient Rome, where it symbolized a Roman king’s power to punish his subjects, and later, a magistrate’s power and jurisdiction. The axe has its own separate and older origin. Initially associated with the labrys (Ancient Greek: λάβρυς, romanized: lábrys; Latin: bipennis), the double…
something that I realized a few years ago that blew my mind
Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial has his hands resting on Fasces
https://www.nps.gov/articles/secret-symbol-of-the-lincoln-memorial.htm
There’s a later, wildly different interpretation of fasces as symbolizing strength in unity, which would make some sense being associated with the ‘man who preserved the union.’
Kind of notable how a symbol can potentially indicate two diametrically opposed concepts… not unlike how the swastika was eventually co-opted to effectively mean something entirely different from various original meanings.
No. Clearly Fasces is a symbol of Roman superiority. It makes it all the more visible when you mix it with the Roman Salute. Is the Roman Salute supposed to have two diametrically opposed concepts as well? I think not!
So, you get this old Etruscan symbol, mix it with European desire of primitivity from the early 20th century and what you get is fascism.
But you could argue: “Well, the europeans have the right to their History as well, they want to value the place they came from.”. Ok, but there is a relatively small element here of using this concept to bring forward the European Right to Rule the world.
If you’re european, and more specifically live in Rome, you’ll know something about the Roman Empire. That the Holy Roman Empire and the Holy See are Roman! So, they guide the world with the Love of their Ultimate Ruler (God) and bring this “Love” to their “brothers” from other continents!
It’s easy to love when your love kills! When you don’t forfeit and just occupy yourself with winning winning and dicking other people with “Love”.
So, yes, there are not two sides to the Fasces. They are an european primitivist element brought forth for the European “Right to Rule”. Nothing more.
I was referencing this, from your link:
By the Renaissance, there emerged a conflation of the fasces with a Greek fable first recorded by Babrius in the second century AD, which depicted how individual sticks can be easily broken but a bundle could not. [11] This story is common across Eurasian culture and by the thirteenth century AD was recorded in the Secret History of the Mongols.[12] While there is no historical connection between the original fasces and this fable,[13] by the sixteenth century AD, fasces were “inextricably linked” with interpretations of the fable as one expressing unity and harmony.[12]
This explains my comment.
