Football, Romanità, and the Search for Stasis - Global Rome: Changing Faces of the Eternal City - page 154

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football, Romanità, and the
search for stasis

mark Dyal

in search of Glory
Rome is a city whose past is rich in images of warfare, conquest, and glory. from
Virgil's proclamation that the Romans were a people predetermined to rule the
world, to mussolini's desire to reestablish Roman control of the mediterranean,
the idea that Rome and glory are interrelated has a long history. in contemporary
Rome, it is an idea that has been adopted by the fans of the city's football teams.
as associazione sportiva Roma (as Roma) and società sportiva lazio (ss lazio)
search for wins in italian and european football, both teams' fans use a set of
symbols culled from classical and fascist Rome designed to connect victory on
the field, and often in the streets, with the idealized supremacy of Roman culture.
however, these symbols are often at odds with the demographic realities of con-
temporary Rome. while the city is moving toward the multiculturalism found in
other world capitals, many of its football fans embrace romanità, a deep affection
for Rome and things Roman, in an effort to identify with a primordial Rome that
is impervious to contemporary political and social trends. This chapter explains
how football keeps alive a sense of Roman-ness that originated with the fascist
regime, while also explaining the affinities and contrasts between the fans of as
Roma and ss lazio.

framework and methodology:
symbols of identity between the local and the Global
This chapter examines the complex relationship between Rome's cultural and
political past and contemporary football fandom. as such, it draws not only
from those like allen Guttman (1981), who study sports spectators, and from
anthropologists of sport like Richard Giulianotti (1999) and Gary armstrong

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