Fasces (Latin, "bundles"), ancient Roman symbol of the higher magistrates' authority, consisting of a bundle of wooden rods that enclosed an ax. The fasces were carried ahead of the magistrates by officials known as lictors. The rods, usually birch but sometimes elm, were bound together by a scarlet thong, and the head of the ax protruded from the bundle. The rods were symbolic of the Power of punishment; the ax was symbolic of the Power of life and death. The ax was withdrawn when the fasces was to be carried within the city of Rome because there Romans under sentence of death were entitled to an appeal to the people. In fasces carried before a dictator, however, the ax was never removed. Publius Valerius Publicola, one of the founders of the Roman Republic, initiated the practice of lowering the fasces before all public assemblages, in recognition of the popular sovereignty. The fasces of generals who had won great victories and whose troops had hailed them as imperator were, in the time of the republic, wreathed with laurel. This honor was later accorded only to emperors. In modern times the Fascist party of Italy used the fasces as its official insignia.

The genius of the Greeks lay in art, literature, science, and philosophy. The Romans were best in legion, law and language. These three elements provided not only the power that allowed Rome to be great but are also the legacy of Rome, what they left us.

The ancient Romans called the people of the country Etrusci or Tusci, from which is derived the name of the modern Italian region of Tuscany. The Etruscans came to this region about 1000 BC, (9th century). The Latins and the Sabines may have been indigenous to the region. These three peoples, their culture, government, and social structure are the foundation of Rome. Latium peoples or Latins (three major tribes were Ramnes, Tities, and Luceres from the Alba Longa region) settled the Tiber River Region and were the probable ancestors of Romulus and Remus the two sons of Rhea Silvia, a vestal virgin and the daughter of Numitor, king of Alba Longa the mother and later legend from the epic poem of Virgil, the Aenid , Aeneas, whose son Ascanius, or Iulus, was the founder and the first king of Alba Longa was the father. Rhea was forced to place the twin boys in the river where they were forced to the river bank and found by a wolf and a woodpecker. These two sons were lost to the parents and raised by wolves. They eventually overthrew the Uncle who forced their mother to abandon them and reinstated their grandfather as King. The twins then determined to build a city on the Tiber. Of the seven hills to choose from, Remus selected Aventine Hill as the site; Romulus insisted on Palatine Hill. Remus was killed in the quarrel that followed, and Romulus was declared king. To hasten the city's growth, Romulus made Rome a refuge for outcasts and fugitives. Because there were no women, he persuaded the Romans to lure the neighboring Sabines to a festival and to kidnap the women. A war was averted when the women said they would stay with the Romans.

The Etruscans were a very wealthy people and traded throughout the area. They were governed by powerful kings and had already established a representative government. The Tarquin Kings of Etruria overpowered the Romans and controlled the region for nearly 400 hundred years. The last of the Tarquin kings was overthrown by Brutus the Dullard enraged after the rape of his sister. The Republic was established at this time 509 BC. Return to Calendar top