The Fasces A History of Ancient Rome's Most Dangerous Political Symbol

In ancient Rome, the fasces were a bundle of wooden rods bound with a leather cord, in which an axe was placed--in essence, a mobile kit for corporal or capital punishment. This book is the first attempt to explain in detail precisely how the ancient Romans made a familiar and highly effective spectacle of the fasces, and then how later generations understood, used, and abused this symbol.