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

by T. Corey Brennan

Overview

"Fascism" is a word ubiquitous in our contemporary political discourse, but few know about its roots in the ancient past or its long, strange evolution to the present.

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. Attendants typically carried fasces before Rome's higher officials, to induce feelings of respect and fear for the relevant authority. This highly performative Roman institution had a lifespan of almost two millennia, and made a deep impression on subsequent eras, from the Byzantine period to the present.

Starting in the Renaissance, we find revivals and reinterpretations of the ancient fasces, accelerating especially after 1789, the first year of the United States' Constitution and the opening volley of the French Revolution. But it was Benito Mussolini, who, beginning in 1919, propagated the fasces on an unprecedented scale. Oddly, today the emblem has grown largely unfamiliar, which in turn has offered an opening to contemporary extremist groups.

In The Fasces, T. Corey Brennan offers the first global history of the nature, development, and competing meanings of this stark symbol, from antiquity to the twenty-first century. The word "fascism" has universal awareness in contemporary political discourse, which thus makes this, the first book to trace the full arc of the fasces' almost 3,000-year history, essential reading for all who wish to understand how the past informs the present.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780197644881
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	10/03/2022
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	9.35(w) x 6.49(h) x 1.08(d)

About the Author

T. Corey Brennan is a Professor of Classics at Rutgers University and author of The Praetorship in the Roman Republic and Sabina Augusta: An Imperial Journey. He has appeared on television documentaries that concern the ancient world, most recently for Netflix, BBC2, and the History Channel.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
List of Illustrations

Chapter 1. Introduction to The Roman Fasces
Chapter 2. Origins of The Fasces
Chapter 3. Images of The Roman Fasces
Chapter 4. Roman Fasces in Action
Chapter 5. Limits and Discontinuities of The Fasces
Chapter 6. Carrying the Fasces
Chapter 7. Medieval and Renaissance Fasces
Chapter 8. Early Modern and Neoclassical Fasces
Chapter 9. Popular and Revolutionary Fasces
Chapter 10. American Fasces
Chapter 11. Constructing Fasces in Mussolini's Italy
Chapter 12. Eradication of Fasces

Abbreviations and Note on Translations
Bibliography
Illustrations

Editorial Reviews

"This is a highly readable, interesting and useful survey, and an illustration of how we can always learn from history. The line between Romulus, the consuls, Marianne, Lincoln and Mussolini isn't a straight one: symbols too can be easily manipulated." — Classics for All

"Brennan follows a symbol of authority from ancient Rome, via Mussolini and Lincoln, to today's far Right.... Compelling." — The Telegraph

"Few political icons can boast the longevity of the fasces, the bundle of rods surrounding an axe variously employed by the ancient Etruscans and Romans, French and American revolutionaries, and (most infamously) Mussolini's fascists. In the first comprehensive study of its kind, Cory Brennan expertly traces the complex history and shifting meanings of this powerful symbol—a history all the more important given the re-emergence of the fasces in the hands of the contemporary Alt-Right." — Joshua Arthurs, University of Toronto

"Power expresses itself through symbols and perhaps no symbol has been as potent, from imperial Rome to Mussolini's fascist Italy, as the Roman fasces. T. Corey Brennan in his illuminating and eloquently written book traces this use of the fasces from its origins to the present, exploring what this symbol seeks to impart. He dissects, in the process, the nature of autocratic power and the manipulation of symbols to justify and suppress aspirations for liberty." — Chris Hedges, author of War is a Force That Gives Us Meaning

"The fasces are one of the most potent symbols of terrifying power and are ineradicably associated with contemporary political extremism. But their history is longer, richer, and even more fascinating. No-one is better equipped than Corey Brennan to tell this story — and he tells it brilliantly." — Christopher Smith, University of St Andrews

"[An] impressive history of the ancient symbol...Brennan's long history of the fasces reminds us that there is a time and place for symbol-smashing, but also that if we attempt to erase such symbols we risk caricaturing them, forgetting the nuance of their historical reality and ultimately ceding their unquestionable power to those who would use them to promote hate-fuelled ideologies." — Times Literary Supplement

"This is a beautifully written book about a potent, malleable and sinister symbol. The volume concludes by saying: 'We are now a full century past the point where one can argue that the primary associations of the fasces are benign'. Every one of us needs to know what happened, and the easiest way to do that is to read Professor Brennan's brilliant book." — Classical Journal-Online

"An engrossing study... The evolution of the fasces from ancient to modern times reminds us of how dramatically the meanings of such objects can shift, or even invert, as different eras project onto them the values they want to uphold... Brennan's study is disturbingly timely... By making the fasces more recognizable and less ambiguous, Brennan's book aims to prevent its return as a banner for authoritarianism." — The New York Review of Books

"By making the fasces more recognizable and less ambiguous, Brennan's book aims to prevent its return as a banner for authoritarianism." — James Romm, New York Review

"A wide-reaching, ambitious book presenting a global history of fasces... Brennan covers a vast sweep of time, moving from their Etruscan origins in antiquity to the revival of the symbol in fascist Europe." — History Today

"The word 'fascism' has universal awareness in contemporary political discourse, which thus makes this, the first book to trace the full arc of the fasces' almost 3,000-year history, essential reading for all who wish to understand how the past informs the present." — New Books Network

"This work is certainly of interest to any serious student of ancient Roman history or the reception of ancient Roman symbology in the modern world...It is definitely a valuable work and its relevance in modern political discourse only helps to highlight the value of understanding the history of this ancient symbol." — Brian Zawiski, The Journal of Classics Teaching

"This work is certainly of interest to any serious student of ancient Roman history or the reception of ancient Roman symbology in the modern world...It is definitely a valuable work and its relevance in modern political discourse only helps to highlight the value of understanding the history of this ancient symbol." — Brian Zawiski, The Journal of Classics Teaching

From the Publisher