in Roman antiquity, axes tied up together with rods or staves, and borne before the Roman magistrates as a badge of their office and authority.

According to Florus, the use of the fasces was introduced by the elder Tarquin, the fifth king of Rome; and were then the mark of the sovereign dignity. In after times they were borne before the consuls, but by turns only, each his day; they had each of them 12, borne by as many lictors. These fasces consisted of branches,