Legal Definitions - lictor

A lictor is an officer in ancient Rome who accompanied a magistrate with imperium, which means legal authority. The lictor carried a bundle of rods and an ax, which symbolized the magistrate's power of life and death and corporal punishment over citizens.

Imperium is the legal authority wielded by superior magistrates in ancient Rome. It implied the right of military command and the power of corporal punishment and life and death over citizens. Imperium was symbolized by the lictors who carried the fasces and an ax.

For example, imperium domesticum described the power of the head of a household. Imperium merum referred to a higher magistrate's power to use force to repress crime. Imperium mixtum was a magistrate's authority to make and enforce decisions in civil and criminal matters.

These examples illustrate how imperium had different meanings and applications under Roman law, but they all referred to some form of legal authority and power.