I was listening to a lecture by greek academic Leonidas Mbillis, who stated that the Nazi Salute, as well as the swastika were ancient greek in origin. I tried to substantiate this claim but the only site I could find during my coffee break was a golden dawn website that claimed it was used first in ancient greece and therefore not originally tied to fascism or nazism. Obviously that website is very biased. Help me historians! Is this misinformation from the professor or does he have a point?
It's misinformation. As far as we know, the Romans never used the Roman salute themselves. We have images and statues with a raised right arm, but nowhere do they conclusively resemble the Roman salute.
Academics think the Roman salute was 'invented' by Jacques-Louis David in his painting 'The Oath of the Horatii'. From there, it was picked up by Italian fascists and spread further.