Romae Matri was originally written in 1911 for the 50-year anniversary of the Italian Kingdom (1861–1911) (Albini 1911 = A) and republished, in revised and ‘fascisticized’ form, in 1923 (Albini 1923 = B). Albini wrote the poem (in Sapphic stanzas) for a competition organized by Rome’s city council, but after he himself joined the jury, he had to withdraw his own poem. Despite being out of competition, Romae Matri was lauded by the jury members, and the Municipality of Rome eventually offered Albini the gold medal (Traina 1991: 323n3). In the 1911-edition of the poem, Albini celebrates the events and leading figures of the Italian Risorgimento, Giuseppe Garibaldi (1807–1882) in particular, as well as ancient Rome (from its origins until the triumph of Christianity, vv. 29–108) and Italy’s previous history (the Maritime Republics, vv. 109–116). This historical excursus forms the background against which the poet celebrates the Risorgimento as well as the relationship between modern Italy and antiquity (on Romae Matri, see Sorbelli 1922: xix-xx; Funaioli 1935: 69–70).

In 1923, Albini reissued Romae Matri with the Fascist publishing house Imperia for the Natale di Roma (the ‘Birthday of Rome’ on 21 April), which the Fascist regime had declared an official Fascist holiday. For the occasion, the poet added five new stanzas to the 1911-version, in which he recalled the First World War (vv. 153–164) and celebrated Fascism for its role in ensuring the rebirth of Rome and the Fatherland (vv. 165–172) (Sacré 2020: 25n37). Albini himself presented the new stanzas as a ‘natural’ additions (“qualche strofa si era aggiunta quasi da sè…” in Albini 1923: 2). In this way, he suggested a direct line of continuity between Italian nationalism and Fascist ideology, and implied that the Fascist March on Rome represented the fulfilment of the Risorgimento.

The copy of the 1923-edition of Romae Matri used for FLT contains a dedication to Giovanni Gentile (1875–1944), who was then Minister of Education in Mussolini’s government formed in 1922. It is currently kept in the Fondo Gentile at the Philosophy Library of the University of Rome “La Sapienza” (F.G. Misc. 141.16).

Bibliography

Latin texts

Albini, Giuseppe. 1911. Romae matri. Bologna: A. Gherardi.

———. 1923. Romae matri. Milano: Imperia.

Secondary sources

Binnebeke, Xavier van. 2020. “Hoeufft’s Legacy: Neo-Latin Poetry in the Archive of the Certamen Poeticum Hoeufftianum (1923–1943).” In Studies in the Latin Literature and Epigraphy of Italian Fascism, edited by Han Lamers, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, and Valerio Sanzotta, 245–325. Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia 46. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

Funaioli, Gino. 1935. “Giuseppe Albini.” Annuario della Regia Università di Bologna, 55–79.

Sacré, Dirk. 2020. “Die neulateinische Literatur in Mussolinis Italien.” In Studies in the Latin Literature and Epigraphy of Italian Fascism, edited by Han Lamers, Bettina Reitz-Joosse, and Valerio Sanzotta, 13–50. Supplementa Humanistica Lovaniensia 46. Leuven: Leuven University Press.

Sorbelli, Tommaso. 1922. “La nuova poesia latina in Italia.” In Lyricorum liber Alphonsi Mariae Casoli e S. I. Mutinensis. Novissimi poetae Latini Thoma Sorbelli curante 1. Modena: Vincenzi e Nipoti di D. Cavallotti.

Terzaghi, Nicola. 1960. “Albini, Giuseppe.” In Dizionario Biografico degli Italiani. Vol. 2. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana.

 Traina, Alfonso. 1991. “Giuseppe Albini latinista.” Eikasmós. Quaderni Bolognesi di Filologia Classica 2: 321–43.

Nicolò Bettegazzi