The Marion daily mirror. (Marion, Ohio) 1892-1912, 1908-07-13
ROME 3 PET. A SHE WOLF
A Sentimental Reminder of the
Ancient Legend.
KEPT AT THE CAPITAL


Government Fosters Patriotic
MISUNDERSTANDING OF Art a Valu.
able Source of lncome-Rivslry
With Vatican as Relic Collector.
A few months ago there appeared in
several of the Roman papers a curious
advertisement which ran something
like this
Wanted-To purchase Immediately
gray she-wolf, to replace the wolf OF
the Capitol, which has just died.
Perhaps no one thing in Rome IL
lustrates more eloquently what may
be termed the programme of patriot
ism adopted by the Quirinal than the
wolf of the Capitol. Hidden by the
shrubbery at the top of the broad
staircase mounting to the Capitol, 1t
occupies two wire-tronted cages. about
I ten feet across, where, at the expense
of a grateful municipality, 1t lives
life restricted, but of great social
distinction as the modern representa-
tive Of the mother wolf that sucked
Romulus and Remus. Rome is never
without its wolf, If it can help itself.
Imaginative, enjoying whatever APP
| peals to the sense of mystery and the
supernatural, the Romans like to be-
lleve the wolf legend authentic and
| themselves the descendants of the
! shadowy Romulus-a belief which the
government, for its part, is only too
glad to play up"
For. In truth, the Capitoine wolf Is
I but one of those simple but immense
| ly effective links between the Rome of
Servius Tullius and the Rome of Hum.
| bert which the Italian Government
never loses an opportunity TO forget
when absent and to strengthen when
present. insignificant as it may seem,
1t is a factor in the programme of
patriotic education which the gov
ernment has set itself. The compre-
| hensive lines on which this policy has
been conceived and the earnestness
with which IL is being carried out,
! can hardly escape even the casual vlsi
tor to Rome. BY means that must
appeal to the simplest imagination,
| 1t is stimulating the national spirit
| and pride of the rising generations OF
! Italian youths, and, as one preeminenL'
ly potent means to this end, 1t is
bending every effort to make Rome
seem what in reality it is-the Capt.
tai of United Italy.
AS far back as 1870, according to
F.. Prof Mario CosenZa of the Latin de-
| partment of the College of the City OF
| New York, the municipality adopted o
system of nomenclature in the case
of new streets with the deliberate pur.
pose of teaching history and patriot
| isue at the same time. In that year
, municipal improvements were begu"
| i'm the eastern section with the lay.
| ing out of new streets in that part of
| the old Esquiline hill where Maecen-
| as once had his gardner and where
/ the railway station Is now. Here the
streets are named after the royal
house of Savoy-Victor Emmanuel,
Margherlta, and so on. In the Lud.
! ovisi quarter, which is rising from the
gardens of Sallust, the streets bear the
names of the provinces OF united
| Italy--Lombardy Campania, Veneto.
1 Outside the medieval walls near the
Janiculum, once the site of Nero'a
gardens, the streets are called after
| the great Romans of ancient times,
such as Pompey, Caesar. Finally,
| those in the district around the old
Praetorian camp memorabilia the fam
GUS battles of the War of Uniifica.
tion-Magenta, Castelfdardo AN
! these latter centre around the Piazza
| DELI Independence.
"ln its relics and works of art"
said Prof. Cosenza, "the Qtirinal
| finds a tremendous aid TO its patriotic
propaganda. 1t also finds in them an
| enormously valuable source of nation
| al income. They are, in fact, one of
| the nations most important assets
Rome for example, is a city of about
| 100000 population In the course of a
year this Is doubled by the tourists
who visit It, some OF whom come for
| long periods of study. and practically
| all of whom are attracted by it's relies
! and works of art or by its religious as
| socations. Rome is city of mem
cries. Every landmark, every square
| inch of painting by master, every
! stitch of ancient embroidery That
leaves it impoverishes it by so much.
| The same holds true for the country.
The arch enemies OF the Italian
Government in its pious desire to
have and to hold are the American
millionaire, whose ability t. pay ten
times over what the Govefnmena
with It's paltry annual appropriation
for the purchase of antiquities can
afford, sorely taxes the patriotic scru-
pies of the owners of antiquities, and
the Vatican, now as ever keen and
experienced collector. OF the two the
Vatican is the more deadly
------'---------~-->- -------------------