killerplants.com | What's in a Name? | Free Newsletter Signup

How did an ancient symbol acquire a bad name?

Suggested Reading—>Click here.

Assorted Killer Savings Garden Links—>Click here.

Killer Picks: The Plot To Overthrow FDR, Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare, & more—>Click here.

Rome, The Complete First Season, Multimedia Classroom Global History, & more—>Click here.

In Rome, a fascis was a bundle of elm or birch rods. The bundle bound around a staff with an axe facing outward became the fascis of a magistrate and his lictor. The lictor carried the fascis before the magistrate as a symbol of office representing law and the authority to punish crimes—rods for a mere beating, the axe head for death.

The lictor's position was to ensure the magistrate's decree was finalized. The fascis (plural: fasces) was a bundle and a burden, literally and figuratively. As a representation of authority, the bound elm and birch rods became a stylized motif carried down through the ages and carved onto furniture legs and public buildings, stamped onto coins, and decorating military insignia.

Lictor, Emperor and Nobleman
Buy Giclee Print at AllPosters.com

In the 1800s, long after the fall of the Roman Empire, the concept of the fascis reappeared as a fascio, a group bound toward a common goal like a farm trade or workers' union. The fascio or fasci served as the authority to ensure the group's best interests, economically and politically. After World War I, combat veterans and military officers formed fasci with the best intentions of having patriotic organizations of people who loved their country.

Then along came Benito Mussolini. And he formed a fasci from the unemployed, the restless, and the disgruntled. They adopted the ancient fascis as the symbol of their party and sought recreating the splendor of Rome. They called themselves the Fasci di Combattimento, the party of struggle.

The Fasci demanded total allegiance to the authority of the party. Under the guise of creating a great nation, patriotism was what the party said it was. There was no tolerance for other ideas or for individuals. People were part of the bundle and had no value except as fodder for the fight. By the time Mussolini ruled, the party and government were one and the same. Simply called the Fascismo, it was the rule of unrelenting and fanatical fascism.

Legion XXIV Media Atlantia is a re-enactment unit showing battle tactics, dress, weapons, and the life in the Roman army. Their website has a great page about fasces, what the objects represented, and how they were carried by the lictors. To learn more about fasces, click on the link:

http://www.legionxxiv.org/fasces%20page/

(Compiled from: The 1889 Century Unabridged Dictionary Online, Global Language Resources; Origins, A Short Etymological Dictionary of Modern English, Eric Partridge, Greenwich House, NY, 1983: Webster's Word Histories, Frederick C. Mish, ed., Merriam-Webster, Inc., Springfield, MA,1989)

killerPlants Tendrils: ~~1~~2~~3~~4~~5~~

Unique Professionally Designed Gardens

Springhill Nursery®

Spring Hill Nursery has unique gardens professionally designed by experts to take the guesswork out of gardening. Whether you are looking for a three season garden, foundation garden, or a garden to attract hummingbirds and butterflies, Spring Hill Nursery has created a step-by-step design just for you. Click here - $20 off your first order at Spring Hill Nursery!

In Search of History: The Plot To Overthrow FDR DVD

The History Channel®

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt won the Presidency in 1932, many Americans looked to his bold New Deal plans as the way out of the dark days of the Depression. But a powerful group of financiers and industrialists saw his economic policies as a threat.

THE PLOT TO OVERTHROW FDR reveals how, inspired by political trends in Germany and Italy, this group conceived of a plan to either overthrow the newly-elected president or force him to take orders from them. They envisioned a paramilitary organization of disgruntled WWI veterans as the force to intimidate the government.

The man they chose to inspire and lead this veteran's army was retired Marine General Smedley D. Butler, a colorful and outspoken champion of veteran's rights. But Butler was their undoing. After discovering the details of the conspiracy, the horrified general blew the whistle and subjected the outrageous plot to the scrutiny of a Congressional investigation.

With the help of leading scholars, historians and government officials, IN SEARCH OF HISTORY™ reveals the details of one of the most bizarre schemes in American history. In Search of History: The Plot To Overthrow FDR DVD, Click here.

Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare DVD

Biography®

With pounding fists and brutal charisma, he conjured up the myth of a new Roman Empire and made himself its Caesar.

The enigmatic journalist Benito Mussolini seized power through a potent combination of terror and persuasion. Promising glory while crushing his enemies, he held Italy in his grasp for over two decades.

In this revealing program, rare photos and films tell the story of Mussolini's life, from his days as a class bully to the creation of the dreaded black shirt brigades.

Eyewitness experts reveal how his alliance with Hitler ultimately destroyed his country and led to his execution and mutilation by Italian partisans. Contemporary observers explore his renewed popularity and the shocking return of Fascism to Italy today.

This is an unforgettable look at the little man the world knew as Il Duce. BIOGRAPHY: Mussolini: Italy's Nightmare DVD, Click here.

Rome, The Complete First Season DVD

The History Channel®

In the last years of Julius Caesar’s reign, the streets run red with the blood of, well, pretty much everybody. Celebrated by fans and critics alike for its lavish production and gripping plots, ROME’s creators have entirely reinvented historical drama.

Viewers explore every treacherous stratum of Roman society with a duo of mismatched Roman soldiers – family man Lucius Vorenus and wayward Titus Pollo – as their guides. Perfectly blending the human and the historic, ROME is a transporting television experience.

A cast of thousands, a budget of millions, and more bonus features than you can shake a laurel wreath at are all in the magnificent first DVD release of what promises to be a classic series. Rome, The Complete First Season DVD Click here.

Multimedia Classroom Global History: Rome: Engineering an Empire CD-ROM Lesson Plan Set with DVD

The History Channel®

For more than 500 years, Rome was the most powerful civilization in the world, ruled by visionaries and tyrants whose accomplishments ranged from awe-inspiring to deplorable. From the aqueducts to the Pantheon, this lesson explores Roman history through its innovative architectural structures from the rise of Julius Caesar in 55 BC to its eventual fall around 537AD.

Primary sources include: Key writings by Julius Caesar, Virgil, and Cicero, historical images, and maps detailing the growth and migration of the Roman Empire.

Each lesson integrates short video clips that bring history topics alive, printable primary source documents, maps and other visual aids, printable review and critical thinking questions, vocabulary lessons, internet-based activities, and other resources. These materials are designed to correlate to both national and state curriculum standards. Multimedia Classroom Global History: Rome: Engineering an Empire CD-ROM Lesson Plan Set with DVD Click here.

The History Channel Presents: Julius Caesar's Rome DVD set

The History Channel®

Experience documentary history at its best and bear witness to the rise and fall of an empire with THE HISTORY CHANNEL® PRESENTS: JULIUS CAESAR'S ROME.

Throughout history, civilizations have come and gone, but few have altered the world as immensely as the Roman Empire.

From its legendary founding by Romulus and Remus to its magnificent takeover of the Mediterranean to its eventual fall amidst the rise of Christianity, the many lasting influences of the Roman civilization remain with us today. The History Channel Presents: Julius Caesar's Rome DVD set Click here.

Roman Vice DVD Set

The History Channel®

Conquest. Lust. Murder. Revenge. These are the cornerstones in the foundation of the Roman Empire. For more than 500 years, Rome was the most powerful and advanced civilization the world had ever known, ruled by visionaries and tyrants whose accomplishments ranged from awe-inspiring to deplorable. Gain unprecedented insight into the decline of the Roman Empire with this remarkable set.

The story of ROMAN VICE is one of epic debauchery, monstrous cruelty and breathtaking extravagance. Luxury made the Roman world go round. The quest for better food, bigger villas, more opulent baths and more thrilling entertainment drove Roman civilization forwards. Despite their civilized attitude to life, there was a decidedly uncivilized end to the Roman Empire.

This special uses recent archeological evidence to bring this tumultuous period to life. Explore Roman funeral practices based upon sacrifice and superstition; secret societies and mysterious cults, and the grand palaces of Nero and Tiberius - center stage for Rome's height of excess wealth and decadence. ROMAN VICE shows Roman civilization at its best and worst - outstanding depravity and amazing brutality next to world class opulence and a constantly expanding Empire. Surprisingly, the Roman Empire lasted for a thousand years, not despite the perverted lust for luxury of Emperors like Caligula and Nero but for the most part, because of it.

Then, learn the inside story behind one of the most notorious rulers in history with CALIGULA: REIGN OF MADNESS.

He ruled for only four years and was dead at age 28; Caligula packed a great deal into a very short life. Had he focused his considerable energies on governing his empire, history might have remembered him differently. As it is, he is known for perversion and depravity his rule was a legendary frenzy of lunacy, murder and lust. Between executions he staged spectacular orgies. He named his favorite horse a consul, made love to his sister and declared himself a living god. CALIGULA: REIGN OF MADNESS goes behind the legend to explore the anguished life of the infamous emperor. Discover how the first six months of his rule were marked by clemency and how a violent illness seemingly transformed Caligula into the monster that history remembers. Leading scholars help explore the many contradictions in his life; murderer, pervert, loving father and devoted son he was all these things and more.

Join BIOGRAPHY® for the shocking story of Rome's most reviled ruler, the bizarre, bloodthirsty Caligula. Roman Vice DVD Set Click here.