this post was submitted on 01 Jun 2025
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Chapotraphouse
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if you think fascism existed in ancient rome you're defining the word fascism so broadly that it basically doesn't mean anything anymore
The fasces existed as a symbol of magisterial power for nearly 3000 years before Mussolini came along and named his ideology after it.
Fun fact: fasces is also the etymological origin of the slur for a gay man that also means a type of odds-and-ends meatball and a bundle of sticks.
good question. i'm no historian either but my understanding is that italian fascists in the 20th century used the fasces (among other roman symbols) to harken back to an imagined glorious past for the italian people and associate themselves with a golden age. i.e., fascism is inspired by rome and by the fasces in particular, but the roman empire itself was not fascist because fascism didn't exist and could not exist in the ancient world