542 Valentina Follo
good fortune of being occupied in its entirety by a single invader” (Galli della Loggia
1998: 18). Pre-unified Italy did not speak the same language, nor were its inhabitants
Italians, but rather Romans, Florentines, Milanese, and so forth. In this respect, Italy
exemplifies a process of ethnogenesis identified by Balibar (2009: 164) as follows:
No nation possesses an ethnic base naturally, but as social formations are nationalized,
the populations included within them, divided up among them or dominated by them
are ethnicized—that is, represented in the past or in the future as if they formed a natural
community, possessing of itselfan identity of origins, culture and interests which transcends
individuals and social conditions(emphasis added).As far as Italy was concerned, however, exactly which origins, culture, and interests
were to be singled out? Ultimately, it was in Rome that the fathers of the Risorgi-
mento recognized the single unifying force capable of transcending the peninsula’s
numerous divisions. Giuseppe Mazzini, one of the Italian nation’s founding fathers,
affirmed that:
...a remote sign of greatness will appear before you much like a beacon in the ocean. Bow
down and adore it, for there is where the heart of Italy beats; there is where Rome solemnly
rests for all eternity. (for a discussion, see Vidotto 2001: 33–72)There were dissenting voices, nonetheless, and the vote to make Rome the capital of
Italy was not unanimous. In the words of Stefano Iacini: “The idea of Rome as the seat
of government is not a quintessentially liberal or patriotic choice [...] nor does it meet
the needs of a new Italy; it is the makeup of a decrepit Italy who has had her day” (Vidotto
2001: 40).
On March 17, 1861, the kingdom of Italy was officially born. Yet, with Rome still
in the hands of the pontiff, the kingdom remained deprived of its driving force, not to
mention its geographical center, considering Rome’s strategic position in the peninsula.
Accordingly, the unification process in Italy did not spread centrifugally from Rome out-
ward; rather, it gained momentum along a centripetal path from the far reaches of Italy’s
borders toward the history-laden, ideological, and “inevitable” capital (Galasso 1970;
Vidotto 1996; 1997; 2001; Galli della Loggia 1998: 63–5; Zucconi 2009).
Once Italy was officially proclaimed a kingdom, Cavour (1861) declared before
parliament:
It is the historical, intellectual and moral circumstances that contribute collectively to deter-
mining the conditions of a leading nation’s capital. Rome enjoys a unique position among
all the Italian cities in that the memory of its former self is not limited exclusively to a munic-
ipality; the entirety of Rome’s history from the time of the Caesars down to today is that
of a city whose influence has extended infinitely beyond its borders; that is to say, of a city
destined to be the capital of a great State [...] I have said it before, and I will reaffirm it, oh
gentlemen: Rome and Rome alone must be the capital of Italy.However, it would not be until after the breach of the Porta Pia on September 20,
1870, accompanied by the cry “Give me Rome or give me death,” that the process of