GfS - the first part of my last post that you quote was actually my quoting of a *previous* post to draw attention to its inaccuracy — I was pointing out that it was not a battleaxe but a headsman's axe.

As shown on your currency &c, they are just a symbol of the power of the state, as used by the Romans; but in adapting the name for the movement called 'fascism', the 'fasces' did, as I pointed out, come to symbolise the power of the state to suppress dissent by oppressive means.