PICTURES FROM ITALY (Est. 2001)
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art
Walking Tours of Rome

Signs of the Fascist Era in Modern Rome

28/7/2019

 
Walking Tours of Rome
Sign of the fasces on a manhole cover, Rome
Sign of the fasces on a manhole cover

Evidence of a dark and inglorious period in the history of Italy can be found, of all places, on some of Rome's manhole covers! 

In addition to the famous four letters 'SPQR', a few manhole covers
 also sport an image of the fasces lictoriae, an emblem of authority in the world of ancient Rome. The bundles (fasces) of elm rods, bound together with an axe, would be carried by the officials (lictors), who preceded magistrates when they appeared in public.

Fast forward to late 19th century Italy and the name fasces had come to be used by a number of political groups of varying political persuasions. In 1919 Benito 
Mussolini founded the Fasci Italiani di Combattimento, which, in 1921, became the Partito Nazionale Fascista (National Fascist Party). A year later, on October 28th, Mussolini organised the 'March on Rome', after which King Vittorio Emanuele III invited him to form a government. The Era Fascista was born and the image of the fasces lictoriae was resurrected. The symbolism of the fasces suggested strength through unity: a single rod is easily broken, while the bundle is difficult to break. 

After the fall of Il Duce, and his death at the hands of the partisans on April 28th, 1945, images of the fasces were deliberately expunged from public places, in an attempt to wipe out the memory of Fascist rule. 

However, many images survived. A well-preserved image of the fasces can be found, high up and relatively out of reach, on the Teatro di Marcello (Theatre of Marcellus). The inscription at the bottom 'A VII E F' indicates that it was erected in the seventh year (Anno) of the Era Fascista.


In 1927 Mussolini introduced a new calendar which made October 28th (the anniversary of the 'March on Rome') the start of a new year. Roman numerals were used to denote the number of years that had passed since the fascists came to power. 

Sign of the fasces, Teatro di Marcello, Rome
Image of the Fasces (Teatro di Marcello)
Image of the Fasces, Theatre of Marcellus, Rome
Theatre of Marcellus

Comments are closed.
    My name is David Lown and I am an art historian from Cambridge, England.

    Since 2001 I have been living in Italy, where I run
    ​ walking tours of Florence, Rome &
    Venice.

    Search Pictures From Italy:

    Blog Posts

    November 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019


Follow Pictures From Italy on Facebook

Private Tours of Rome, Florence & Venice

Copyright © David Lown 2001-2019. All Rights Reserved. 
  • Private Tours
    • Private Tours of Rome
    • Private Tours of Florence
    • Private Tours of Venice
  • Contact
  • Rome
  • Vatican
  • Florence
  • Venice
  • Tuscany
  • Gallery
  • Year in Art