The claim to sovereignity implied in the labyrinth as a solar journey seems ratified by one of the possible etymologies of the word: labyrinth may come from labrys, a sacrificial double axe which was one of the most important religious symbols of Crete and Asia Minor. If we compare the shape of the labrys with the original circular labyrinths, the handle resembles the entrance corridor while the curves of the blades the periphery of the concentric circles. According to this etymology, originally labyrinth meant “abode of labrys.” Although this type of axe was originally a lunar symbol it was later assimilated and transformed into a solar one.

Many of the Roman symbols of power, such as the crown, the throne and the scepter were taken from the Etruscans, who also originated the quintessential symbol of the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire: a bunch of wooden rods tied around a single-blade axe or alabrys the romans called fasces. The young warrior who emerged from the abode of the axe, from the labyrinth, brought with him (metaphorically speaking) what would become the symbol of imperium.