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Etruscan fasces
The Romans believed that the fasces were introduced in Rome from Etruria. Again, this may be true, but the tradition is open to some criticism. So far, only one set of fasces has been found in Etruria, in the so-called Tomba del littore near Vetulonia, in 1890. This find has been hailed as a confirmation of the tradition, but it should be noted that the archaeologists only found a lot of small rusty flakes, which were interpreted as Etruscan fasces, which, they had to admit, were not identical to Roman fasces.
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They were entirely made of metal, the ax had two blades, and finally: the Etruscan fasces were extremely small. It has been said that the find from Vetulonia is only a miniature model, but this is poor method: to rescue an interpretation, one introduces a hypothesis.
Of course, doubts about this find do not prove that the fasces did not come from Etruria. One argument for this tradition is that the least unconvincing etymology of the word lictor is that it is derived from a Etruscan word that means "royal".
fasces
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The ancient Greek historian Herodotus suggested in his book The Histories that the Etruscans immigrated from the small country of Lydia in Asia Minor. Although another Greek historian, Dionysius of Halicarnassus, believed that the Etruscans were indigenous people, the Roman historian Livy and the Greek historian Polybius agreed with Herodotus.
Indeed, archeological digs support the view that the original Etruscans were an Oriental or Middle Eastern people (emigrating from somewhere between Syria and the Hellespont) and first settled in the the marshy, coastal land of the Tuscany region around 900 B.C. Etruscan power began to decline in the 5th century B.C. as they were challenged by other groups. The Romans conquered Etruria about 283 B.C. Gradually the Etruscans assimilated into the Roman culture.
Ancient Times - 1st millennium B.C.
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The word lictor may be derived from the Latin verb ligare, which means "to bind". This is sometimes said to refer to the fasces they carried, which were a set of rods that were bound in the form of a bundle, and contained an ax. In other words, the lictor was the man who prepared the fasces, the "binder", or had to -according to other sources- bind the hands of criminals. An alternative for these unconvincing etymologies is that the word is derived from the Etruscan root lauchum, which means "royal". There is something to be said for this, because the lictors had once been the bodyguard of the Etruscan and Roman kings, and the fasces are probably an Etruscan invention.
lictor
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In Rome it represented the power of certain magistrates who could order the beating of a criminal. The judges assistants, called licteurs, did the work with sticks. These fasces became the symbol of union and accord.
how to read images
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1937 - Tripoli: Mussolini between the lictor's fasces, gives a speech directed to all Muslims of Libya
source
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Fascism went by many names in many different countries: the National Socialist German Workers (Nazi) Party in Germany, the Legion of the Archangel Michael (Iron Guard) in Romania, the Arrow Cross in Hungary, the Ustasha in Croatia, the Falange in Spain. Regardless of the name, all fascist parties shared a similar ideology.
Fascism takes it name from the symbol of the Italian Fascist Party, the fasces.
Like the swastika, the fasces had a long and honorable history before it was appropriated by Mussolini and his fascist thugs. Three fasces appear on the 10-centesimo dark green Fascist Emblem of the New Government stamp, Italy Scott 159, shown in Figure 2, which was issued to mark the first anniversary of Mussolini's seizure of power in 1922.
The fasces is a bundle of rods and among them an ax with a projecting blade. The fasces was a symbol of the Roman republic that embodied strength in unity. Individually, the rods and ax handle could be broken. Bound together, they were unbreakable.
Fasces were borne before Roman magistrates as a symbol of their authority.
Many stamps illustrate Fascist principles
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Napoleon
Hitler
Mussolini
Bush Junta
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The cold war- related? Gladio- double edged sword
Nato stay behind operation - the secret fascism
"...secret armies were formed in France, Belgium, the Netherlands and West Germany- often directed, quite naturally, by former SS officers. They didn't just wait around for the Russians to come marching in; they assembled huge arms caches (many of which remain unaccounted for), compiled blacklists of leftists and, in France, participated in plots to assassinate President DeGaulle."
The CIAs Greatest Hits
Italy was not alone in having covert "stay behind" units in operation. The operation encompassed all of western Europe. In France the unit was called "Glaive" - again named after a Gladiatorial sword. Austria's unit was named "Schwert," also meaning sword. In Turkey the unit was named "Red Sheepskin" and in Greece "Sheepskin." Sweden's unit was called "Sveaborg." In Switzerland it went by the title P26. Other units in Holland, Belgium, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Norway, Luxembourg, Denmark and Holland remain unnamed. Not least, the United Kingdom's unit was simply known as "Stay Behind."
Information that surfaced in recent years suggests that the "Stay Behind" concept first arose in Britain. Senior military sources told the Guardian newspaper in December 1990, that a British guerrilla network was already in place following the fall of France in 1940. Numerous arm "caches" were buried for later use by a special forces ski battalion of the Scots Guards under the leadership of Brigadier "Mad Mike" Calvert. After the war, the decision was taken to create new units throughout Europe. The plan was conceived by the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and spearheaded by the newly formed CIA.
Operation Gladio
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| While Berlusconi's rapid ascent took most observers by surprise, the stage was set for it by nearly 50 years of U.S. interference in Italian politics. In the name of fighting communism, the U.S. helped generate a level of political turmoil that sometimes approached civil war. U.S. agents and their Italian surrogates took control of key government agencies, at times reducing Italian democracy to little more than a proving ground for the CIA's and the White House's aggressive tactics. The undercover campaign, known as ``Gladio,'' for a double-edged Roman sword, was officially acknowledged for the first time in 1990, when it was finally closed down. [oh really?]
searchlight investigation
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...Although many European intelligence agencies have admitted participating, the CIA has denied any connection with Gladio. But enough information has emerged to show that the CIA* sponsored and financed a large portion of the terrorism and disruption that plagued Italy for nearly half a century. Among other things, the U.S. government:
Forged secret alliances with the Mafia and right-wing elements of the Vatican to prevent the left from playing any role in government
Recruited Mussolini's ex-police into paramilitary bands secretly financed and trained by the CIA, ostensibly to fight Soviets, but really to conduct terror attacks blamed on the left.
Employed the gamut of psychological warfare tactics, including paying millions in slush funds to political parties, journalists, and other influential contacts to tilt parliamentary elections against the left.
Created a secret service and a parallel government structure linked to the CIA whose ``assets'' attempted several times to overthrow the elected government.
and Targeted Prime Minister Aldo Moro, who was later kidnapped and murdered under mysterious circumstances after offering to bring communists into the Cabinet.
architecture of modern political power
* = Alan & John Foster Dulles - Cromwell & Sullivan -
Brown Bros Harrimen - Prescott Bush - Skull & Bones - CIA - US military Junta
"Some Americans were just bigots and made their connections to Germany through Allen Dulles's firm of Sullivan and Cromwell because they supported Fascism. The Dulles brothers, who were in it for profit more than ideology, arranged American investments in Nazi Germany in the 1930s to ensure that their clients did well out of the German economic recovery."
nazis in the attic
America first family and some of their choice friends
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If Mussolini and Hitler appropriated the fasces to thier own evil ends
What excuse do other countries have? What has it come to represent in our current world context?
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198th MILITARY POLICE BATTALION-Kentucky Army National Guard
The fasces, an ancient badge of authority used by Roman magistrates, symbolizes the enforcement of law and order and the maintenance of high disciplinary standards, the basic mission of the organization. The arrowhead and the colors blue, white, and red of the Philippine Presidential Unit Citation commemorate the unit's service as an artillery organization in the Pacific Theater during World War II. Yellow and red are colors of the national flag of South Vietnam and refer to service in that country.
MOTTO: "SERVICE INTEGRITY HONOR".
Design approved: 21 May 1976.
shoulder sleeve insignia
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Los Angeles Police Department
Badge Description
1 Border design based on the fasces, or ancient Roman symbol of authority.
2 Designation of rank.
3 Rays of a setting sun represent a West Coast location.
4 Replica of City Hall with three symbolic characteristics: Towers rising lines depict the untiring and unyielding spirit of the Citys founders; the flanking wings represent the expansive growth from the first "El Pueblo"; the broad base signifies the Citys firm foundation.
5 The City Seal depicts: the Citys history through Spanish, Mexican, autonomous and United States control; its site as a prolific garden spot; and the early influence of the mission padres.
6 Designation of city and department.
7 Oval shape, unique in badge design when adopted in 1940.
8 Badge number or symbol of rank.
LA police dept.
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Authority? Order? Fascism?
Is this really appropriate for a modern society?
Even if the symbol of the fasces is used just to symbolise 'authority'...
It is still a symbol derived from an ancient EMPIRE...
Why is this? Would it make it any more acceptable if we all KNEW about its meaning?
I don't think so...
Why are so many of the worlds capitals full of symbolism from ancient empires?
If these symbols are meant to function & exist within society, how is it possible that
thier meanings are not known to the majority that live and work around them?
strange isn't it?
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Washington -the snake binds the rods,
hinting at the pillars secret meaning
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Are Ionic columns fasces?
The Tuscan Order was the simplest of the Classical Orders . It is thought to have derived from Etruscan and early Roman temples and that, like the Doric Order, it reflects wooden construction. The most obvious distinction between the Tuscan and other orders is that the columns are never fluted but are always smooth.
THE TUSCAN ORDER
The Ionic order forms one of the three orders or organizational systems of classical architecture, the other two canonic orders being the Doric and the Corinthian. (There are two lesser orders, the stocky Tuscan order and the rich variant of Corinthian, the Composite order, added by 16th century italian architectural writers.)
The Ionic order originated in the mid-6th century B.C. in Ionia, the southwestern coastland and islands of Asia Minor settled by Ionian Greeks, where an Ionian dialect was spoken.Ionic order
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650-500 bc - Doric architectural style
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500-400 bc - Ionic architectural style
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400-300 bc - Corinthian style architecture
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1000-1200 ad - Romanesque style in architecture and art
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1150-1500 ad - Gothic style in architecture and art
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Auem obelisco
Wilhelms needle
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Lincoln monument, fig to left of centre holding a fasces
Washington
Luitpold arena
Koblenz
London
Parthanon, Greece
The future? Bladerunner
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Washington,
Wellington Arch, London
Nazi Germany
US seal laser show
Nazi Germany [compare with 'bladerunner']
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