The inscription (1928) is visible beneath the balcony over the entrance of the former Casa del Fascio in Pescia (Piazza XX Settembre 3), Tuscany. Its author remains unknown.

The Casa del Fascio, also known as the Casa del Littorio, housed the local branch of the Fascist National Party. Such buildings, termed Palazzo Littorio when sizeable, appeared all over Italy during the ventennio. Pescia’s Casa del Fascio became State property in 1944, was restored in 1994, and has hosted the local section of the National Archive since 2000.

The inscription is carved in Roman square capitals, featuring typical Fascist elements such as the short middle strokes on the letters E, F, and M, and the large eye of the letter R. The encircles a medallion showing a hand holding a short sword.

The text cites a motto by Gabriele D’Annunzio, who found it in Giovanni Ferro’s heraldic work, Teatro d’imprese, published in Venice in 1523. In Ferro’s work, the motto accompanies an eagle with a crown in his beak. D’Annunzio used this motto with reference to the occupation of Fiume, which he regarded as the first step towards new Italian domination. He had it inscribed on the flagpole in the gardens of the Vittoriale, his villa near Lake Garda, and dated 14 October 1921 (Maiolini and Paradisi 2022: 145). In Pescia, the motto takes on a distinctly Fascist meaning, evoking the imperial ambitions of the regime by the late 1920s. The phrasing echoes Vergil’s line Magnae spes altera Romae (Aen. 12.167), referring to Ascanius, son of Aeneas, as the ‘second hope of a great Rome’ (Maiolini and Paradisi 2022: 179).

The building was designed by engineer Umberto Cappelli. It features two semi-columns shaped like fasces flanking the entrance, two imperial eagles on the sides of the central section, and bas-reliefs of winged lions between the windows of the façade. Additionally, a bas-relief of winged victory holding an arboreal crown adorns the central pillar above the entrance.

Bibliography

Maiolini, Simone and Paradisi, Patrizia. 2022. I motti di Gabriele d’Annunzio. Le fonti, la storia, i significati. Cinisello Balsamo (MI): Silvana Editoriale.

Antonino Nastasi