THE FASCIST CITYSCAPE
Renewing the City of Rome Through Fascism
With the decision to center Rome at the heart of a new Fascist empire, Mussolini legitimized his Fascist regime by erecting fascist buildings in close proximity to the great architecture of the idolized Roman Imperial era. By placing himself in the historical and cultural center of great rulers and traditions, Mussolini implied that his Fascist regime would resonate in Italian history as a modern golden era for future generations to reference and preserve as a high time in Italian economics, culture, and politics.
A Physical Manifestation of the Romanità Spirit
Rome's architecture represented a physical manifestation of the fascist-idolized myth of Romanità, or 'Romanness.' The Fascist Regime fused the new ambitions of the State with physical manifestations of ancient Rome's imperial glory, and sought to renew and refresh these sites to serve modern purposes. By opening up Italian historical sites through new transport systems and other modern infrastructure, Mussolini deconstructed ancient architecture’s ties with Italy's liberal political past while maintaining fascist-lauded values of Romanness: hygiene, virility, conquest, masculinity and timeless structure. This timeless romanità essence was the heritage, or ancestral tree, from which all Italians descended. Thus, under the careful direction of a Fascist government fusing the ancient imperial past of Rome with a modern vision of a second Roman Empire, these values were praised as the core essence of Roman success.
The Fascists' leader of urban planning, Antonio Munoz, described this Roman transformation as both “material and moral – not only is new life traced in the sacred earth and new city built on solid stones but the spirit of its inhabitants is molded and constructed according to a solid purpose.”
To infuse the historic power and myth of ancient Roman architecture with an essential, highly modern display of new power, Mussolini looked to the architecturally dynamic style of Futurism. At the same time, Mussolini embraced the International Style of the Gruppo 7 to strip away aesthetic remnants of the Italy's liberal state, which were associated with decadence and stagnation. These aesthetic styles allowed Mussolini to harness the power and essence of ancient Roman architecture while simultaneously propelling Rome's architectural aesthetic forward into the unapologetically modern twentieth century. This combination of a celebrating the historical past and embracing the relentless onslaught of technological and social modernity provided the architectural foundation on which Mussolini built his new empire.
PHOTO: Mosaics celebrating Il Duce in the Foro Mussolini, taken by the summer 2014 expedition.
"Rome is our point of departure and reference; it is our symbol or, if you wish, our myth. We dream of a Roman Italy, that is wise and strong, disciplined and imperial. Much of what was the immortal spirit of Rome, resurges in Fascism: Roman is the Lictor, Roman is our organization of combat, Roman is our pride and courage: Civis Romanus sum."
– Mussolini (quoted in Nelis 402-403).
Kenneth Scott, "Mussolini and the Roman Empire," The Classical Journal, Vol. 27 (June, 1933) pp. 245- 257
PHOTO: Mussolini delivers a speech to youth groups in front of the Colosseum, showing the characteristic Fascist ideal of linking Rome's ancient imperial power to the modern progress Fascism promised the Italian nation. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
The Master Plan
IMAGE: An aerial view of Rome. From Luigi Lenzi, The Town Planning Review, Vol. 14, No. 3 (May, 1931), pp. 145-162"The New Rome"Luigi L
Sources, this page:
Kenneth Scott, "Mussolini and the Roman Empire, The Classical Journal, Vol. 27, No. 9
(Jun., 1932), pp. 645-657.
Jan Nelis, "Constructing a Fascist Identity: Benito Mussolini and the Myth or 'Romanita'"
The Classical World, Vol. 100, No. 4 (Summer, 2007), pp. 391-415.
Francesco Fausto Nitti, "Prisoners of Mussolini," The North American Review,
Vol. 229, No. 2 (Feb., 1930), pp. 129-135
The idea of romanità is the essence of the Master Plan’s Fascist cityscape. As the capital of Italy, Rome as a city was a symbol to tie the Italian people together as a political entity, but it was the spirit of romanità which tied the Italian people together under a shared past of Imperial greatness to which Mussolini insisted the Fascist State would return to once more (Scott 1933). Mussolini spoke about the connections between fascism and romanità at an address in Trieste, proclaiming:
“Fascism [has] revived consciousness of the ancient glories of Italy, of the Roman Empire… the continuation of its tradition… by fascist struggle for a new Imperial Rome.”
In other addresses to the Fascist Party, Mussolini expressed his political belief that Rome was not only relevant to Italian history, but to the history of the whole world. As not only a political powerhouse, but as the center of Christianity, it was the Fascist mission to give Rome a new prominence in the modern world order: one of power and control from sea to sea.
Mussolini’s volumes of his Opera Omnia, famous works which he politicized in his reign from 1922- 1943, expand on the central elements of romanità, including historical figures such as Augustus and Caesar, ancient ruins, and the idea of empire (Scott, 1933). Mussolini used the shared culture of Romanness to bind together a new Italian nationalism. This cultural propaganda was manifested in such architectural themes the eagles and fasces prominently displayed on public buildings, as well as the minimalist, classical style architecture associated with architect Marcello Piacentini, architecture which stripped away Italy's failed liberal history in favor of a fascist mix of historicity and modernity.
Romanità was not a call to return to old ways, but rather a modern anthem, inspiration for the uomo nuovo, or new man, and the new Fascist state to achieve greatness.