I wanna be the Stickman and carry the important stick.
this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2025
49 points (100.0% liked)
Illustrations of history
1780 readers
13 users here now
This magazine is for sharing artwork of historical events, places, personages, etc. Scale models and the like also welcome!
Generally speaking, actual photos of a historical item should go to !historyartifacts@lemmy.world
Photos of ruins should go to !historyruins@lemmy.world
Photos of the past should go to !HistoryPorn@lemmy.world
founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
Lictors or centurion?
The lictors, the fellows in the back with the bundles of sticks and an axe, were assigned as a magistrate's authority as representatives of the people of Rome. They were a mixture of bodyguards and show-pieces. If a fellow comes by with a bunch of lictors following him or clearing a path for him, you know he's an official of the Republic!
The stern looking soldier with the vine-staff is a centurion, a commander of ~80 troops, and that vine-staff was one of the key symbols of his authority - not least because he was empowered to hand out beatings to unruly soldiers with that staff!
tl;dr; us men have always loved our sticks
Lictor? I barely knew her!
the bundles of sticks and an axe
Also known as fasces. Y'all may have heard that word before...
Damn fascists, they ruined the fasces!
Does he just have people following him with a chair and a red carpet?
Unironically, yes! The rug's nonstandard, but the curial seat was considered an important symbol of a Roman magistrate's authority. They were often folding chairs, precisely because they needed to go wherever the official did.