lictors

Lictors were Roman officials who served as bodyguards and attendants to magistrates, embodying the authority of the state through the symbolic fasces—a bundle of rods with an axe that represented the power to punish. Their origins trace back to the early Republic, when each of the twelve consuls was accompanied by twelve lictors, a number that varied for other magistrates: praetors had six, dictators had twenty-four, and the censor exercised authority without lictors.

The primary duties of lictors involved clearing the way for officials, maintaining public order, and executing punishments such as capital sentences, which they carried out by striking the condemned with the rods of the fasces. In the Roman Forum they also attended public assemblies, announced decrees, and escorted dignitaries. Their presence reinforced the legal and coercive power of the magistrate, and the removal of a lictor’s fasces symbolized a loss of imperium, as occurred when a consul entered the sacred precinct of the Senate house.

During the late Republic and early Imperial period the function of lictors evolved. Augustus reduced their number and redefined their role, making the fasces a solely ceremonial emblem of imperial authority. Under the Empire, lictors continued to accompany the emperor and senior officials, but their coercive duties diminished, giving way to a more ritualistic presence.

The concept of the lictor has influenced modern symbolism; the fasces appears in various state seals and emblems, notably on the United States Capitol and the French Republic's coat of arms, reflecting the ancient association of unified strength and lawful authority. In contemporary usage the term “lictors” occasionally describes ceremonial attendants in state functions, preserving the historic connection to Roman governance.