You get so accustomed to the buildings here being in various stages of decrepitude that you become rather lax in looking at them. You see, but you do not observe. The particular example that comes to mind concerns a seemingly amorphous glob of concrete or stone or something hard above the door of the building just across the street from us. I say “seemingly amorphous,” because Lino suddenly recognized its morph the other day.
“Oh look,” he said. “That was a house where a gerarch lived.” Unlike the usual formula, this was not a reference to someone from his past. But it was certainly from the past. Specifically, from the year beginning October 29, 1926 and ending October 28, 1927, otherwise known as “Anno V,” or Year 5, of the Fascist era.
The clump of material, now that I look closer, retains the outlines of the fasces with the axe-blade which was the primary symbol of the National Fascist Party.
As for the gerarchs, there were 12 ranks ranging from the Secretary of the party to a humble “capo nucleo,” or head of a unit. I haven’t pursued the subject any further than this, though I’m guessing that it was not the Secretary of the party who lived out here on the fringe of civilization.
Over time, I’ve noticed (with Lino’s help, usually) a few other traces of the period between 1921 and 1943. Pictures follow with what bits of elucidation I can provide.
Here is what I have managed to learn about “Roma intangibile.” The expression seems to have resulted from a mashup of events and remarks. We begin with the “Capture of Rome” (“Breccia di Porta Pia“), on September 20, 1870. It was the final event of the Risorgimento; the Papal States were defeated, and the way was open to the unification of Italy under its first king, Vittorio Emmanuele II.
In 1875, Umberto I (King of Italy from 1878-1900) referred to Rome as the “unbreakable seal of Italian unity.” In 1886, he used the term “Rome, an intangible conquest.” (This deserves much explanation and exegesis, which is beyond me. Just stay with me here.) It is at that point that the principle of “Intangible Rome” entered history.
The phrase caught on; in fact, it became so popular that in 1895 a certain Carlo Bartezaghi, an enterprising industrialist from Milan, created a bronze medal showing the she-wolf (symbol of Rome) and the motto “Roma Intangibile.” He led people to believe that it was an ancient object and managed to fool a number of numismatic experts for a while, but that’s beside our point. The term became part of the popular lexicon.
In 1900, Vittorio Emmanuele III, in his first proclamation to the Italian people, recalled “…the unity of the Fatherland that is epitomized in the name of Roma intangibile, symbol of greatness and pledge of integrity for Italy.”
Fading monuments have such a melancholy aspect, not so much because they’re fading but because they used to matter, sometimes a lot, and now they’re fading.
Great article. I hadn’t noticed these historical bits from the fascist period and hadn’t realized that the fasces had been removed from the eagle. Now I will need to look more carefully for evidence from this period.
After Mussolini plowed Via dei Fori Romani through downtown Rome, (originally named Via dell’ Impero for his intended new Empire), he installed on one of the forum buildings (the back of corner of the Basilica of Maxentius, I believe, on the side toward his new boulevard) a series of maps of inlaid marble showing the growth of the Roman Empire, concluding with a map of his own envisioned modern empire. The latter embarrassment was removed sometime after WW II, but the maps of more ancient periods remained.
As in Venice, there are still traces of the fascist era all over Rome. Mussolini revived the use of SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus), which lingers all over Rome on manhole covers. Although the engineers of ancient Roman built admirable drains, perhaps it is appropriate that Mussolini and his philosophies should be associated with sewers.
I really like Lino’s approach here. Whatever happened during the fascist era is a part of the history and should be remembered. One doesn’t necessarily have to be proud of it, but to try to neglect it and hope it’ll go away is futile. I can of course understand the rightful rage of the people crushing the symbols of the oppressors during a process of liberation, but history must still be preserved if not for other causes than not to repeat the mistakes. The colonel in an earlier post also deserves a better fate than just beeing neglected.
This weekend I had some kind of “near Venice” experience in Stockholm. First the fishmonger had put out the flag of the republic suggesting that I would buy vongole, and then the delicatessen followed with some nice sopressa Veneto and lovely prosciutto di san Daniele. To top it off my wife took me to a new store and the vendor not only addressed me in Italian, which I don’t speak, and then proceeded to sell me a pair of jeans from Sartoria Tramarossa. I take it as a sign that I need to come back to Venice soon. 🙂
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Great article. I hadn’t noticed these historical bits from the fascist period and hadn’t realized that the fasces had been removed from the eagle. Now I will need to look more carefully for evidence from this period.
After Mussolini plowed Via dei Fori Romani through downtown Rome, (originally named Via dell’ Impero for his intended new Empire), he installed on one of the forum buildings (the back of corner of the Basilica of Maxentius, I believe, on the side toward his new boulevard) a series of maps of inlaid marble showing the growth of the Roman Empire, concluding with a map of his own envisioned modern empire. The latter embarrassment was removed sometime after WW II, but the maps of more ancient periods remained.
As in Venice, there are still traces of the fascist era all over Rome. Mussolini revived the use of SPQR (Senatus Populusque Romanus), which lingers all over Rome on manhole covers. Although the engineers of ancient Roman built admirable drains, perhaps it is appropriate that Mussolini and his philosophies should be associated with sewers.
I really like Lino’s approach here. Whatever happened during the fascist era is a part of the history and should be remembered. One doesn’t necessarily have to be proud of it, but to try to neglect it and hope it’ll go away is futile. I can of course understand the rightful rage of the people crushing the symbols of the oppressors during a process of liberation, but history must still be preserved if not for other causes than not to repeat the mistakes. The colonel in an earlier post also deserves a better fate than just beeing neglected.
This weekend I had some kind of “near Venice” experience in Stockholm. First the fishmonger had put out the flag of the republic suggesting that I would buy vongole, and then the delicatessen followed with some nice sopressa Veneto and lovely prosciutto di san Daniele. To top it off my wife took me to a new store and the vendor not only addressed me in Italian, which I don’t speak, and then proceeded to sell me a pair of jeans from Sartoria Tramarossa. I take it as a sign that I need to come back to Venice soon. 🙂