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"In Rom. antiq., bundles of rods, usually of birch, with an ax bound in with them, the blade projecting, borne by lictors before the superior Roman magistrates as a badge of their power over life and limb." -Whitney, 1911

Fasces of a Roman Magistrate

"In Rom. antiq., bundles of rods, usually of birch, with an ax bound in with them, the blade projecting,…