Fascism and Classical Antiquity

Dans cet article, nous nous proposons de présenter l’état des recherches concernant la romanité fasciste dans toutes ses manifestations reconnues jusqu’à présent. Ainsi, nous parlerons d’abord des études ‘générales,’ qui depuis la fin des années 1970 ont commencé à découvrir le sujet. Ces études analysent généralement la nature et la valeur propagandiste de la romanité (la création d’une identité nationale). En deuxième lieu seront présentées les études qui encadrent la romanité dans l’Italie préfasciste, c’est-à-dire dans l’Italie risorgimentale de l’unification. Ces études apportent un contrepoids aux visions que l’on pourrait qualifier d’‘unicistes’ (qui partent de l’unicité du fascisme et de la romanité fasciste), car elles placent la romanité dans une évolution à un certain degré naturelle, soulignant la continuité avec le passé proche. Ensuite, nous traiterons des études concernant la discipline des classiques sous le fascisme, dédiant particulièrement notre attention à la façon dont trois personnages, qui sous le régime fasciste fêtèrent leur anniversaire bimillénaire (Virgile, Horace et Auguste), furent relevés et insérés dans un discours fortement influencé par des besoins idéologiques. Puis nous regarderons les institutions principales qui ont contribué à la divulgation de la propagande de la romanité, surtout l’Istituto di Studi Romani. Après un survol des recherches en archéologie et de la façon dont cette dernière fut soumise à la volonté spectaculaire du régime fasciste, nous parlerons brièvement de la présence de la romanité dans le cinéma pendant le ventennio fasciste (la période d’environ 20 ans durant laquelle le fascisme fut au pouvoir en Italie). Pour finir, nous consacrerons alors la dernière partie de notre étude aux possibles pôles de recherche future: nous indiquerons certains aspects qui nécessitent un approfondissement et certains qui n’ont jamais été traités, ainsi que quelques nouvelles méthodes, points de vue et disciplines qui pourraient contribuer à une meilleure connaissance du phénomène.

Among the many ‘founding myths’ of fascism such as those regarding its relationship to the First World War, one element stood out as key to both its quest for absolute dominion over the Italian peninsula and its historically based self-concept and representation: the idea of present-day Italy as incarnating the spirit and virtuousness of Roman (late Republican and early Imperial) antiquity, creating the image of a Terza Roma, of a ‘third’, fascist Rome. This ‘Romanness’ or, in Italian, romanità, is at the heart of the present paper, which offers a general analysis of some of the central characteristics of the fascist use of the myth and idea of Rome. It firstly situates romanità, one of the main myths on which Mussolini’s so-called fabbrica del consenso relied for more than twenty years, in the context of the study of fascism as a political religion. After this overall treatment of the most characteristic features of romanità, the myth of Rome is linked to recent scholarship on the modern nature of fascism (and nazism). This proposed ‘fascist modernism’, already briefly illustrated in the first part of the paper (fascist architecture and aesthetics), is traced in the activities and inner functioning of the Istituto di Studi Romani, a pivotal institution in the development of the myth and cult of Rome under fascism. Finally, it also uses the Istituto to highlight a feature that is often neglected in the study of the fascist use of Rome, namely the role of traditional, catholic -- as opposed to fascism as a political religion -- religion.

Emanazione di un quotidiano a larga diffusione, la Rivista Illustrata del Popolo d’Italia fu uno dei numerosi strumenti attraverso i quali il regime fascista attuò quell’“interventismo della cultura” che costituisce uno dei tratti salienti della sua diramata e pervasiva azione di (ri)educazione di massa.
Non c’e dubbio che la Rivista col potere politico sia costitutivamente compromessa, visto che si tratta del supplemento de Il Popolo d’Italia, giornale fondato da Mussolini e divenuto organo ufficiale del partito fascista; è aperta ai più vari argomenti, dalla politica alla letteratura, e destina uno spazio considerevole all’ambito figurativo, costituendo un osservatorio privilegiato per seguire a diversi livelli l’evoluzione – o l’involuzione – della politica delle arti nell’arco di un ventennio. Essa rappresenta un caso per molti aspetti emblematico, la cui peculiarità – implicata già nel titolo – sta nella stretta interconnessione fra parola e immagine che propone, in una sorta di reciproco rispecchiamento.
Uno dei pregi dell’analisi offerta da Priscilla Manfren è proprio quello di mettere in luce legami e rapporti fra testo e illustrazioni, sottolineandone la parità gerarchica nell’economia del periodico; un cospicuo spazio, all’interno del libro, è riservato a un’acuta decodificazione delle immagini, raggruppate per autore, ma anche per nuclei tematici e considerate – oltre che sotto il profilo stilistico – nelle loro valenze simboliche e nelle loro implicazioni propagandistiche, spesso svelate dal collegamento a fatti ben precisi, di cui oggi si è persa la memoria e che l’autrice ci aiuta a richiamare.
Dopo una presentazione generale della rivista e della sua struttura, il lavoro si articola in tre nuclei: nel primo si analizzano le numerose e spesso pregevoli tavole illustrative realizzate dagli artisti; nel secondo si affronta il vasto tema delle esposizioni d’arte nazionali e internazionali, puntualmente commentate da critici d’arte di spicco, come Margherita Sarfatti e Mario Sironi; nel terzo infine ci si sofferma sugli articoli di soggetto archeologico. Ci viene cosi dischiusa una lettura stratificata della politica dell’immagine promossa dal regime, sorretta dall’ausilio di un ricco apparato illustrativo, che consente una puntuale verifica delle analisi proposte.


Dal saggio introduttivo di Giuliana Tomasella

Het fascistische regime in Italië (1922-1943) weefde door middel van een alsmaar toenemende controle op het openbare leven een web, ontwikkelde een discours waaraan slechts weinigen zich wisten te onttrekken. De dagelijkse realiteit werd in zekere zin ‘gefascistiseerd,’ ging deel uitmaken van een auto-referentieel interpretatiekader, nl. het fascisme. Dit laatste groeide uit van politieke ideologie tot wat men heeft bestempeld als een ‘politieke religie.’ Mussolini ambieerde het ideaal van wat hij de ‘totalitaire Staat’ noemde, een Staat waarin alle componenten in harmonie functioneerden: alles bestond in en vóór de Staat, niks bestond buiten de Staat. Deze situatie betrof ook de kunsten, inclusief het theater. Dit diende zich, net als de zuiver literaire, de beeldende en andere kunsten, aan de tijdsgeest aan te passen. Hoe dit precies gebeurde, zullen we kort uiteenzetten in het eerste deel van dit artikel, waarin we de fascistische interesse voor theater zullen belichten. Gezien het eigenlijke onderwerp van deze studie de analyse is van een aantal bewerkingen van het leven van Julius Caesar zullen we in een tweede fase licht werpen op de fascistische ideologie van de romanità of ‘Romeinsheid.’ Deze kwam er grofweg op neer dat men de Italiaanse, fascistische identiteit trachtte vorm te geven door beroep te doen op de idee van de ‘erfenis’ van het antieke Rome en de deugden die aan dit laatste werden verbonden. In een laatste fase zullen we dan, zoals reeds werd aangehaald, onze aandacht richten op de wijze waarop Caesar onder het fascisme werd in scène gezet.

Con quest’articolo proponiamo uno studio della rivista Historia. Nata e spenta come fu durante il ventennio fascista, la breve vita della rivista (1927-1935) diretta da Carolina Lanzani, allieva di Ettore Pais, dipendeva altamente dal contesto politico. Visto che sotto il regime fascista l’antichità romana acquistò grande valore propagandistico, in una prima fase illustreremo il modo in cui questo valore si tradusse nell’ideale della cosiddetta ‘romanità’. Vedremo che quest’idea di un’eredità ideologica dell’antichità permeò tutto lo spettro culturale, dal mondo della scienza sino a quello della cultura popolare. Dopo quest’introduzione generale, vedremo quali furono gli elementi che determinarono l’essenza, la natura della rivista e dei suoi contributi. Si vedrà che, nonostante l’importanza dell’elemento fascista (ruolo di Arnaldo Mussolini), fu lo storico Ettore Pais a diventare l’elemento ‘pivotale’ della rivista. Del Pais, osserveremo non solamente gli scritti in Historia, ma anche i contatti con Mussolini e con il suo segretario particolare. Dopo un’ulteriore illustrazione del ruolo della propaganda della romanità nella rivista, finiremo con un’analisi cronologica dei contributi della mano della redattrice Carolina Lanzani. Analizzeremo il modo in cui la Lanzani ‘fascistizzò’ sempre di più i suoi contributi. Grazie alla sopravvivenza della sua corrispondenza con la segreteria particolare del duce, potremo illustrare in quale modo la storica dell’antichità tentò anche fuori dei suoi contributi di salvare la sua rivista... e se stessa.

This article introduces two little-known episodes of opposition against the Italian fascist regime undertaken by professor Ettore Ciccotti (1863-1939), whose career traversed both the world of academia and that of politics. In each of these instances, Ciccotti expressed a particularly explicit form of anti-fascism. The article focuses firstly on a close reading of Ciccotti’s Profilo di Augusto (1938), in which the author openly criticises the myth of Romanness or romanità, a myth that played a major role in the ideology of Mussolini’s regime. That analysis will be prefaced by a brief overview of the negative contemporary reception of this controversial volume, as evidenced by a review article published by the then pro-fascist Istituto di Studi Romani. Secondly, the article will address an episode that occurred seven years prior to the publication of the Profilo, when in 1931, Ciccotti refused to pledge the oath of allegiance to the fascist regime and its duce, although at this time the oath was compulsory for all academics. The reasons Ciccotti put forward for this refusal were remarkably similar to those he later used to justify his 1938 criticism of Roman emperor Augustus, and are clearly stated in a letter he addressed to the Ministero dell’Educazione Nazionale at the moment of that refusal. The combination of Ciccotti’s Profilo di Augusto and his earlier exculpatory letter provide us with a remarkable insight into the thinking of this intellectual politician –Ciccotti was also a senator- whom, although confronted with the omnipresence of fascism, consistently opposed the cultural and ideological presumptions of the regime.

Rome's heritage is a vital part of its economy and its identity that both reflects and contributes to deep social and cultural divisions. This paper explores two contradictory memories of fascism and suggests that contemporary heritage approaches don't always allow for alternative approaches.

KEYWORDS: Rome, heritage, Fascism, conflict archaeology

Este texto analisa o processo de construção de instalações – filiais (situadas nas capitais de distrito) e agências (localizadas nas sedes de concelho) – para a Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) entre 1929 e 1970. Primeiramente, a partir da caracterização sintética do papel da instituição no salazarismo, apresenta-se o retrato global do processo de transferência das suas dependências para edifícios concebidos de raiz. Em seguida, decompõem-se as instâncias e os mecanismos de decisão no âmbito da arquitetura da instituição, destrinçando os dois modelos de encomenda e avaliação de projetos. O primeiro, mais simples e interno, vigorou até 1942 e teve como entidade fundamental a CGDCP. O segundo, mobilizando um maior aparato de técnicos, foi conduzido até 1970 pela Comissão Administrativa das Obras da CGDCP, criada pelo MOPC. Em terceiro lugar, explica-se o programa base de uma instalação da CGDCP, diferenciando as várias funções e respetivas consequências ao nível gestão do espaço, dos acessos e da implantação dos imóveis. Finalmente, examina-se, de forma crítica e contextualizada, a evolução das opções estéticas assumidas nesta tipologia. Conclui-se com uma reflexão sobre as diferenças entre este património e a filosofia arquitetónica que a CGD adotou a partir da uniformização das suas agências, na década de 1990.

Abstract
This text analyses the process of building facilities – subsidiaries (situated in district capitals) and branches (located in municipalities) – for Caixa Geral de Depósitos (CGD) between 1929 and 1970. First, starting with a brief description of the role of the institution during Salazar’s regime, the article presents an overall portrait of the transference process of its branches into newly designed buildings. Subsequently, the instances and decision mechanisms in the context of the institution’s architecture are deconstructed, distinguishing between two models of project commission and evaluation: the first, simpler and internal, lasted until 1942 with the CGDCP as its essential entity; the second, mobilising a greater apparatus of technicians, was led by the Administrative Committee of the CGDCP Works (created by the MOPC) until 1970. Thirdly, the text describes the foundation programme of a CGDCP installation, differentiating functions and their consequences regarding space management, accesses, and establishment of the property. Finally, in a critical and contextualised way, the article examines the evolution of the aesthetic options adopted in this typology. The text concludes with a reflection about the differences between this patrimony and the architectural philosophy that the CGD adopted since the standardisation of its branches in the 1990s.

Although Lionello Venturi’s anti-Fascism is well documented, further research is needed on its intersection with an eccentric reading of medieval art. Published during the consolidation of the regime as a dictatorship, Venturi’s Il gusto dei primitivi (1926) challenged Italy’s artistic and political return to order. Instead of comparing the Italian primitives to Classical and Renaissance artists, the author analyzed them on their own terms. He argued that the primitives were devoted to mystical creazione rather than to the representation of nature, and associated creazione with individual freedom, which clashed with Fascism’s call for artists to support its politics and rely on Italy’s native styles. Other than reconstructing the primitives’ critical fortune, this interpretation of medieval art arose against the background of Benedetto Croce’s idealist aesthetics and recent Northern European art history. In general, Venturi’s position was exceptional both in Italy and abroad, since, unlike many of his German, Austrian and French colleagues, he rejected nationalist interpretations. Finally, Il gusto dei primitivi also incorporated the author’s interest in modern art, which fueled his anti-Fascist activities, his refusal in 1931 to pledge allegiance to the regime, and his subsequent exile.

The present paper treats a particular manifestation of contemporary myth-making, the myth of ‘Romanness’ known as romanità, which since the end of antiquity has often been viewed as a cornerstone of Italian identity; at times this myth has taken on particular importance, for example during the Renaissance period, and also under fascism. In the years between 1922 to 1943, this myth was utilised as a means of portraying contemporary Italy, centred around Rome as the capital, as a direct and privileged heir of Late Republican and Early Imperial antiquity, a period in which such ‘Roman’ qualities as combativeness, greatness and determination were exemplified. In this instance, romanità, in a very real sense, acted as a full-blown ‘myth of origin’. Whereas in general, the myth of Rome has been the subject of extensive and expertly-wrought analyses, in the case of the Italian fascist reception of Roman antiquity, there are various facets of the way in which romanità affected Italian society during the ventennio fascista - the twenty years during which fascism was in power, from 1922 until 1943 - that still await exploration. In this context, clarification is still lacking regarding the overall significance of the myth within a society which was not only steeped in a traditional religious, Catholic heritage, but was also being confronted with a regime that steadily and increasingly nurtured its own sacral outlook and tendencies, eventually developing into a fully-fledged ‘political religion’. In light of the above observations, this paper analyses the way in which the myth of Rome, omnipresent in fascist culture and even more so within its propaganda, came to be reflected in Italian Catholic opinion. We will engage in a close reading of the widely distributed Catholic newspaper L’Avvenire d’Italia, focusing particularly on the 1930s, a period where the fascist regime enjoyed a heightened popular consensus. In the following section, we start with a brief discussion of the concept of political religion within the context of Italian fascism, followed by a more generalised discussion of romanità in its many manifestations; the paper ends with an analysis of the latter phenomenon’s presence in the pages of L’Avvenire d’Italia.

Le mythe de la Troisième Rome connaît un nouveau développement dans l’imaginaire politique et culturel de l’Italie du XIXe siècle, par les réflexions et dans l’action du patriote Giuseppe Mazzini, qui définit au cours du Risorgimento la mission du peuple italien pour la renaissance européenne. Dans l’Italie postunitaire, la Troisième Rome devient un mythe national italien qui donne son identité au nouvel État, identifié à la Troisième Italie. Au XXe siècle, ce mythe devient un pilier de la rhétorique mussolinienne pour la mise en place du fascisme et en particulier pour son idée d’Empire. À chaque étape de l’évolution du mythe dans la rhétorique politique et poétique italienne, on remarque que l’idée de Troisième Rome n’exprime pas seulement le rapport de l’Italie avec son passé, mais également la contribution italienne à l’idée moderne de nation.

Dans le fascisme italien, l’idée de la romanité, c’est-à-dire d’un héritage idéologique de l’antiquité romaine, était une notion centrale dans la volonté de création d’une identité fasciste. La romanité a déjà été l’objet de nombreuses études générales, ainsi que d’études sur, entre autres, l’importance de l’archéologie, de la philologie, de l’histoire de l’antiquité, du cinéma et de la symbolique ‘romaine’ sous le ventennio fasciste. Par contre, les thèmes et le caractère religieux et mythique de la romanité n’ont jusqu’à présent presque jamais, ou pas suffisamment, été relevés. C’est pour remédier à ce vide que nous présentons cette recherche sur le mythe de la romanité au sens propre, c’est-à-dire que nous situerons la romanité dans le fascisme vu comme une sorte de religion politique moderne avec ses propres rituels et mythes. Nous commencerons par une courte analyse de ce concept de religion politique, pour ensuite illustrer de quelle façon le mythe de la romanité contribuait à ce caractère hautement éthéré, quasiment religieux, du discours auto-référentiel fasciste. Dans un second temps, nous illustrerons, sur un plan encore général, la façon dont la religion chrétienne, l’autre ‘mythe’ contemporain en Italie, était insérée dans la propagande de la romanité. Nous terminerons alors par une étude de textes concernant trois des thèmes centraux de la romanité fasciste: l’impérialisme romain, l’importance de Virgile et l’importance d’Auguste. Dans ces textes, nous relèverons non seulement les références à la religion chrétienne, mais aussi, le cas échéant, le discours hautement ‘religieux’ développé pour parler de certains aspects de l’antiquité.

Unha pregunta é para nós esencial: que pode existir no pasado para que a nosa fascinación e gusto se sintan atraídos de forma magnética? Por que ese uso do pasado? Que se procura? Lexitimación? Simple estética? A canalización a estas respostas orientouse en dúas liñas de investigación que decotío foron enfrontadas polos seus sistemas ideolóxicos: o filohelenismo e o medievalismo. A súa transversalidade foi o principal factor do seu éxito xa que a mensaxe na procura dun pasado exemplificante era válido en moitas áreas da vida social: dende a política até a artística. De aí que o título deste artigo leve a verba erótica no seu título, falamos xa que logo, da atracción irresistible mediante a cal se pensa un ideal.

The close relationship between archaeology and politics in the fascist period is also confirmed by the story of a famous image: the duce, pick in hand, demolishes an old building in the area on Via dell’Impero. This image expresses a double and powerful message: the duce town planner and hodman destroyed the inert residues of the past to create a capital city worthy of ancient Rome and present fascist, and at the same time build a new society. The effectiveness of this scene, destined to become a true political icon, was suggested to Mussolini, only a few months after the March on Rome, by the great archaeologist Giacomo Boni, that was among the first to realize the communicative and symbolic importance of Roman-Fascist rituals.

Cet exposé analyse la vision mussolinienne de l’antiquité (surtout romaine) jusqu’en 1915, c’est-à-dire pendant la période ‘non-fasciste’, quand le futur duce développa un discours qui de ce point de vue était encore très hétérogène, à la fois précurseur du mythe fasciste de la romanità, et contestation de ce dernier. Nous montrerons que l’antiquité était partie intégrante d’une certaine ‘culture générale’, mais qu’elle n’avait pas encore toutes les fonctions et la valeur pour ainsi dire ‘formatives’ et ‘exemplaires’ qu’elle allait acquérir à partir de la Première Guerre Mondiale. À part le caractère hautement religieux et mythifiant de son discours en général, ainsi que de sa vision sur l’antiquité en particulier, Mussolini insistait aussi sur les conséquences néfastes que la religion chrétienne aurait eues pour l’Empire Romain, une situation qu’il voyait clairement reflétée dans le présent. Finalement, et malgré le caractère quelque peu éclaté de la notion de romanité mussolinienne, il est possible d’y rencontrer des traces du discours fasciste sur la romanità, et du ‘modernisme’ présent dans ce dernier, ainsi que des thèmes impensables sous le fascisme, comme l’œuvre du poète Ovide et le dolce far niente d’Horace.