Roma, Città Sportiva - Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City - page 146

in the hope of being co-opted to the project. Dedicated to the physical education
of italian youth and inspired by sport- and regime-sponsored cults of youth and
the body, the “complex realized a physical education city in italy. modernizing
and expanding the antique 'Gymnasium,' it raised the national importance of
physical education and symbolized the intent to regenerate the physical culture
of the future generations” (Del Debbio 1933, 65).3 Representing continuity, prog-
ress, and change, the foro mussolini was laden with displays of myths and values
around which a common identity could be built.
Key in the future memorialization of the new fascist civilization, the zone was
tied to mussolini, whose name was cut into a tall, white marble obelisk that still
marks the entry to the now renamed foro italico and Via piazzale dell'impero.
This walkway, leading to the site's principal stadium, was decorated with classi-
cally inspired fascist mosaics of sporting and historical scenes, as well as huge
blocks of marble upon which the key events in the modern history of italy were
etched. equally spectacular was the stadio dei marmi, the smaller arena for the
use of academy students. Crowned by statues of imposing sporting figures from
the ancient and modern periods, the venue saw the merger of imperial tradition
and fascist modernity to create a striking identity that was specific to the regime.
“after Caesar's Rome, papal Rome, here is Rome of fascist italy,” declared the
journalist Vittorio orazi, in 1934 (orazi 1934, 5).
higher, faster, further, Richer: The 1960 Rome olympics
following the fall of fascism in 1943, the foro mussolini understandably contin-
ued to command attention, but not always from those who glorified it. in fact,
with the war still raging, debate had already begun regarding its future, with
many demanding it be razed to the ground. following the liberation of Rome
in June 1944, the foro's position just outside of the city center across the river,
its size, and the ease with which it could be secured caused it to be occupied by
u.s. and british forces who remained for some years. while mussolini's Rome
was subjected to an “iconoclastic” orgy of destruction, this occupation by allied
troops saved the foro almost in its entirety.
Despite mussolini's desire to host the 1940 olympic Games, for diplomat-
ic reasons, italy gave way to Japan, which, in return, agreed to support Rome's
theoretical bid to host the 1944 event. This failed to take place due to the global
conflict, but the capital's moment finally came when, in 1955, the international
olympic Committee awarded it the games. The 1960 Rome olympic Games were
the concluding chapter in postwar italy's rehabilitation and an opportunity for
its elite to display its vision of the reconstructed country and city to the global
audience. presenting a modern, thriving democracy that had moved on from
its fascist past, the olympic Games provided a unique opportunity to establish
rejuvenated italy as an important and developed international actor, no longer
reconstructing but in full and healthy economic growth.