Under the brass eagle and fasces of his ensign’s cap, Milton Stephanides left the Boy Scouts behind.

In modern glass sponges, many species also secrete anchoring spiculate “roots” resembling bundles of fiber-optic cable, or fasces of fiber glass.

Boadicea rushes for a moment in her rude chariot over the battle field, but the fasces and the chains of Rome close the scene.