> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://theparnassian.com/en/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# What do a seventeenth-century illustration from a book on executions and the emblem of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service have in common?
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/chto-obshchego-u-risunka-iz-knigi-xvii-veka-o-kazniakh-i-gerba-fsin-rossii/
- Published: 2017-01-26T15:25:37.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-01T05:46:08.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: NB!, Books, Observations, Society

What do a seventeenth-century illustration from a book on executions and the emblem of Russia's Federal Penitentiary Service have in common? The depiction of fasces: since antiquity, bundles of rods with an axe or hatchet have been a symbol of authority, including the power to execute and to pardon.