The fasces represented the power of the Roman state to inflict corporal punishment, while the axe they were bundled around represented the power of the state to inflict capital punishment.

You may be thinking of Aesop's fable of the bundle of sticks or arrows.

The Romans took the initial idea and modified it. But either way it emphasizes the collective over the individual.

Your logic requires a little reinspection, though. Yes, the Romans prized collective achievements, the "res publica", public service, the unity of the legions, family loyalty, et cetera. That's how they made themselves great and spread their imperium around the Mediterranean.

Leftist, though, in the modern sense of the word? I doubt it.

And if you're against people working together, I imagine many American traditions and moments of heroism are lost to you. The Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima, the Moon landing, the Civil Rights movement -- that sort of thing.

Rome was a totalitarian empire where the majority were slaves. That sounds like how modern leftism works.

Okay, it sounds as if you're not so familiar with the ancient world. Despite Mussolini's fetishization of ancient Rome, it was not a totalitarian state. Or would you also describe ancient Athens as a totalitarian state? Ooh, Colonial-era America had a lot of slaves too. You may need a more delicate analytical tool.

Was Athens a totalitarian state?

Yes. Ever hear of Pericles? He was a dictator. Rome was a dictatorship under the emperors. Those who were not slaves in Rome but also not citizens had no rights. But to serve the empire. Quit building strew men.

Rome was a dictatorship under Julius Caesar, yes, but that doesn't mean exactly what it does in a modern state. Also, Roman society operated as a complex web of clientage so that people of various statuses had access to protection through their patrons, even if they didn't have rights as citizens. Also, slavery in the ancient world was horrible, of course.

Quit mansplaining ancient history to me: it's the analytic equivalent of the fashions in Bridgerton. (Although I love how you get that taking away the rights of metics is a bad and tyrannical move . . . have you generalized that understanding to our modern era?)