So I was thinking about the second of these coin above, the one from Paestum, and that got me looking at this older post. The implication of Cicero’s passage seems to be that magistrates in the provinces have lictors but they carry staffs not fasces. If so, what are these fasces doing on the Paestum coin? Surely Cicero must be wrong, cf. Tomb of Cartilius Poplicola.
My other concern about the Paestum fasces feels more serious. How would a magistrate at Paestum have axes?! A symbol of military authority outside the city of Rome…
The top coin is just bonus.
Liv Mariah Yarrow 