Editing Fasces (section)

==== Imperial period ====
[[File:Caracalla, sestercius, AD 202-204, RIC IV 422A.jpg|thumb|[[Sestertius]] of [[Caracalla]], 202–204. The reverse depicts the emperors Caracalla and [[Septimius Severus|Septimius]] on a platform (central characters); on the right is a lictor holding the new curved fascis.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Mattingly |first1=Harold |last2=Sydenham |first2=Edward A |title=Roman Imperial Coinage: Pertinax to Geta |volume=4 pt 1 |location=London |publisher=Spink & Son |year=1936 |page=281 }}</ref>]]
During the [[Roman Empire]], the number of people who were entitled to fasces and lictors expanded. Fasces were first granted to [[Vestal Virgin]]s by the Senate in 42&nbsp;BC when the six vestals were allowed one lictor each.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=95}} They were joined by fasces granted to the three major {{lang|la|[[Flamen|flamines]]}} (high priests). Single lictors also preceded members of the {{lang|la|[[sodales Augustales]]}}, who were priests of the [[Roman imperial cult|imperial cult]].{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=96}} At the death of the first emperor, [[Augustus]], in AD 14, his widow [[Livia]] was voted a lictor by the Senate, though sources disagree as to whether she ever exercised the privilege.<ref>{{harvnb|Brennan|2022|p=97}}, explaining that while [[Cassius Dio]] reports Livia was voted a lictor, [[Tacitus]] says [[Tiberius]] flatly refused to allow her use of one.</ref>

The division of the Roman provinces into [[imperial province|imperial]] and [[senatorial province]]s, with Augustus holding proconsular imperium over the imperial provinces and administering them through legates, also further expanded the number of fasces.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=97}} Augustus appointed legates with {{lang|la|imperium [[propraetor|pro praetore]]}} as governors, each of which was granted five lictors. When Italy was divided into [[Augustan regions of Italy|fourteen regions]] in 7&nbsp;BC, the {{lang|la|curator}} of each region was granted two lictors while in office and on station. After the creation of the {{lang|la|[[aerarium militare]]}} (military treasury) in AD&nbsp;6, the three ex-praetors administering it were each granted two lictors as well.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=98}} Municipal magistrates' lictors also gained fasces during the imperial period.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=25}}

By the reign of the [[Severan dynasty|Severans]] at the start of the third century, fasces had been redesigned. Depicted on a sestertius struck {{circa|AD&nbsp;203}}, fasces no longer took the form of a bundle of sticks, but rather took the form of a long curved stick or two of such sticks bound together. The number of fasces granted to imperial governors titled proconsul stayed at twelve into the late fourth century AD; governors of the rank {{lang|la|[[consularis]]}} received five fasces, but most governors – with the rank {{lang|la|[[praeses]]}} – had no fasces at all.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=53}} This later form persisted through to the [[Eastern Roman Empire]]: the Byzantine antiquarian, [[John the Lydian]], writing in the sixth century AD described fasces as "long rods evenly bound together" with red straps and axes held aloft.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|pp=47, 229 n. 37|ps=, referencing coin RIC IVa 422A.}} Into the mediaeval period, Byzantine emperors remained guarded by men – by the 14th century, the [[Varangian Guard]] – carrying staves and axes.{{sfn|Brennan|2022|p=49}}