[gaius]

"one stick, alone, weak — many sticks, together, stronk". Just that the bundle is stronger than its constituents.

Isn't there a word for a bundle of sticks bound together?

[gshubert17]

fasces: (in ancient Rome) a bundle of rods with a projecting ax blade, carried by a lictor as a symbol of a magistrate's power. In the 20th century used as an emblem of authority in Fascist Italy.