In antiquity the power of what profession was symbolized by a bundle of sticks called a fasces?
Fasces and institutions in the United States have heavily incorporated representations of the "fasces" into much of their iconography. The following cases all involve the adoption of the fasces as a symbol or icon, although no physical re-introduction has occurred. Fasces Fasces (, ; a "plurale tantum", from the Latin word "fascis", meaning "bundle"; ) 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 axe originally associated with the symbol,
Fasces of Asia for religious purposes which are also unrelated to early 20th century European fascism.) The fasces is sometimes confused with the related term "fess", which in French heraldry is called a "fasce". A few artifacts found showing a thin bundle of rods surrounding a two-headed axe point to a possible Etruscan origin for fasces, but little is known about the Etruscans themselves. Fasces symbolism might be derived 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 for precise claims. By the