3 January

NEW - Cicero - politician and philosopher

Roman writer and orator revered by Renaissance scholars

Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman lawyer, politician, philosopher and great orator whose rediscovered works were an important driver of the Renaissance in the 14th century, was born on this day in 106BC in Arpinum, a hill town about 100km (62 miles) southeast of Rome known today as Arpino.  A loyal supporter of the Roman Republic, Cicero’s brilliance as a student of Roman law and his effectiveness as a speaker led to his rapid rise in Roman politics, which saw him become the youngest citizen to attain the rank of consul, the highest political office of the republic, without hailing from a political family.  Although his political career foundered after his opposition to the secret alliance between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus known as the First Triumvirate, forced him into exile, Cicero turned to writing, producing many works relating to philosophy, as well as hundreds of letters and speeches.  Much of his work disappeared after his death, but was rediscovered by 14th century scholars, most notably Francesco Petrarca - Petrarch - as academics sought to enhance their knowledge by seeking out ancient Greek and Roman texts. Read more…

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Sergio Leone – film director

Distinctive style of  ‘Spaghetti Western’ creator

Italian film director, producer and screenwriter Sergio Leone was born on this day in 1929 in Rome.  Leone is most associated with the ‘spaghetti western’ genre of films, such as the Dollars trilogy of westerns featuring Clint Eastwood.  He had a distinctive film-making style that involved juxtaposing extreme close-up shots with lengthy long shots.  Leone’s father was a film director and his mother was a silent film actress. He went to watch his father at work on film sets from an early age.  He dropped out of university to begin his own career in the industry at the age of 18 as an assistant to the director Vittorio De Sica.  He began writing screen plays and worked as an assistant director on Quo Vadis and Ben Hur at Cinecittà in Rome.  When the director of The Last Days of Pompeii fell ill, Leone was asked to step in and complete the film.  He made his solo debut as a director with The Colossus of Rhodes in 1961.   Leone turned his attention to making spaghetti westerns in the 1960s and his films, A Fistful of Dollars, For a Few Dollars More and The Good, the Bad and the Ugly were big financial successes.  Read more…

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Renato Carosone – singer-songwriter

Composer revived popularity of the traditional Neapolitan song

Renato Carosone, who became famous for writing and performing Neapolitan songs in modern times, was born Renato Carusone on this day in 1920 in Naples.  His 1956 song Tu vuo’ fa’ l’Americano - 'You want to be American' - has been used in films and performed by many famous singers right up to the present day.  Torero, a song released by him in 1957, was translated into 12 languages and was at the top of the US pop charts for 14 weeks.  Carosone studied the piano at the Naples Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella and obtained his diploma in 1937, when he was just 17. He went to work as a pianist in Addis Ababa and then served in the army on the Italian Somali front. He did not return to Italy until 1946, after the end of the Second World War.  Back home, he had to start his career afresh and moved to Rome, where he played the piano for small bands.  He was asked to put together a group for the opening of a new club and signed Dutch guitarist, Peter van Houten and Neapolitan drummer, Gegè di Giacomo, with whom he launched the Trio Carosone.  When Van Houten left to pursue a solo career, Di Giacomo remained with Carosone and they recruited more musicians to form a new band.  Read more…

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Pietro Metastasio – poet and librettist

From street entertainer to leading libretto writer

Pietro Metastasio, who became Europe’s most celebrated opera librettist in the 18th century, was born on this day in 1698 in Rome.  He was christened Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi, one of four children born to Felice Trapassi, from Assisi and Francesca Galasti from Bologna. His father served in the papal forces before becoming a grocer in Via dei Cappellari.  While still a child, Pietro could attract crowds by reciting impromptu verses. On one occasion, in 1709, Giovanni Vincenzo Gravina, director of the Arcadian Academy, stopped to listen. He was so impressed that he made the young boy his protégé and later adopted him, changing his surname to Metastasio.  He provided the young Metastasio with a good education and encouraged him to develop his talent.  When Gravina was on his way to Calabria on a business trip, he exhibited Metastasio in the literary circles of Naples, but after the young boy became ill, he placed him in the care of a relative to help him recuperate.  Gravina decided Metastasio should never improvise again but should concentrate on his education and reserve his talent for nobler efforts.  Read more...

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Gianfranco Fini – politician

Party leader who moved away from fascism

Gianfranco Fini, former leader of the Alleanza Nazionale (National Alliance), the post-fascist political party in Italy, was born on this day in 1952 in Bologna.  Fini has been President of the Italian Chamber of Deputies and was Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs in Silvio Berlusconi’s Government from 2001 to 2006.  His father, Argenio ‘Sergio’ Fini, was a volunteer with the Italian Social Republic, a Fascist state in Northern Italy allied with Germany between 1943 and 1945.  His maternal grandfather, Antonio Marani, took part in the march on Rome, which signalled the beginning of Italian Fascism in 1922.  Fini’s first name, Gianfranco, was chosen in memory of his cousin, who was killed at the age of 20 by partisans after the liberation of northern Italy on 25 April, 1945.  Fini became interested in politics at the age of 16, after he was involved in a clash with communist activists and he went on to join the Italian Social Movement (MSI), a neo-fascist political party.  After graduating from La Sapienza University in Rome he became involved with the party’s newspaper, Il Secolo d’Italia.   Read more…

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Cicero - politician and philosopher

Roman writer and orator revered by Renaissance scholars

Cicero was a powerful orator and a 
renowned expert in Roman law

Marcus Tullius Cicero, the Roman lawyer, politician, philosopher and great orator whose rediscovered works were an important driver of the Renaissance in the 14th century, was born on this day in 106BC in Arpinum, a hill town about 100km (62 miles) southeast of Rome known today as Arpino.

A loyal supporter of the Roman Republic, Cicero’s brilliance as a student of Roman law and his effectiveness as a speaker led to his rapid rise in Roman politics, which saw him become the youngest citizen to attain the rank of consul, the highest political office of the republic, without hailing from a political family.

Although his political career foundered after his opposition to the secret alliance between Caesar, Pompey and Crassus known as the First Triumvirate, forced him into exile, Cicero turned to writing, producing many works relating to philosophy, as well as hundreds of letters and speeches. 

Much of his work disappeared after his death, but was rediscovered by 14th century scholars, most notably Francesco Petrarca - Petrarch - as academics sought to enhance their knowledge by seeking out ancient Greek and Roman texts. As well as providing the modern world with an insight into the politics and culture of his times, Cicero’s philosophical observations became a model for many of the ideals of the Renaissance, while many writers sought to emulate his elegant and precise vocabulary.

Although Cicero did not come from a patrician - noble - background, neither was he from plebeian - working class - stock.  He was born into the equestrian class, which was originally rooted in the military but evolved to include wealthy businessmen and bankers.  It meant his family had the wherewithal to give him an education in Greek history and philosophy and the Latin language, which were the hallmarks of a cultured person.

Renaissance scholar Petrarch
studied Cicero's work

Cicero believed strongly in the fairness of the Roman Republic, the constitution of which was modelled to ensure no one man could revert to ruling as effectively a monarch. He was driven by powerful political ambitions and aimed to climb through the ranks of office as quickly as possible.

After a short military career, he made his name as a lawyer, known for his willingness to take on difficult, high-risk cases, which he often won.

One of the most notable of these - and his first major case - was to defend a Roman citizen called Sextus Roscius against a charge that he had murdered his father, which at the time was seen as one of the most serious crimes. Despite the threat to his own safety, Cicero produced evidence that Roscius was falsely accused in order that corrupt supporters of the ruthless Sulla, dictator of Rome, could acquire his father’s estate at a fraction of its value. Cicero won the case.

He married Terentia, who came from a family of comparable class, at the age of 27 and attained each of the levels of magistracy at or near the youngest possible age, becoming quaestor at 30, aedile at 36 and praetor at 39. He was then elected consul at the age of 42.

As consul, Cicero’s time in office was notable for his thwarting of a conspiracy led by Lucius Sergius Catilina to overthrow the Roman Republic with the help of foreign armed forces.  Cicero quickly passed a law to permit the use of force in response and drove Catilina and his supporters from the city, backing up his actions with powerful speeches that cemented his reputation as a great orator.

But this victory was to have a sting in the tail later when he made it clear that he could not support the First Triumvirate, which he saw as in direct opposition to the principles of the republic and undermining the authority of the Senate. 

Ambitious consul Mark Antony
ordered Cicero to be killed

By refusing to join this alliance, Cicero made political enemies, including the tribune Publius Clodius, one of whose earliest acts on being elected was to introduce a bill that revoked the citizenship of anyone who killed a Roman citizen without granting them a trial. 

This law was deliberately framed so that Cicero could be retrospectively banished for his role in putting down the Catilina uprising, which included the execution of the revolutionaries without a trial.

After first going into hiding, Cicero fled the city and went into exile in Thessalonica. After Pompey’s intervention, he was allowed to return after a year and a half but only on condition that he stayed out of politics.

He turned instead to writing, producing great works of philosophy such as On the Republic, On Invention, and On the Orator. He made many speeches and wrote letters that would come to light in the Renaissance. 

However, he could not resist political interventions.  He fled Rome again when Caesar prevailed over Pompey in a civil war but returned when Caesar was assassinated and tried to re-establish the republic.

This brought him into conflict with Mark Antony, the consul who had his eyes on power after the demise of Caesar. Cicero had acquired huge popularity again and did not hold back in speaking out against Mark Antony, whose reaction was to declare his rival a public enemy.

Mark Antony’s soldiers hunted Cicero down and he was captured and beheaded in December, 43 BC, seized outside his villa in Formiae, having planned to embark on a ship to Macedonia.

Arpino sprawls spectacularly along a ridge
in the province of Frosinone in Lazio

Travel tip:

Arpino, the town that evolved from the Roman city of Arpinum, sits high in the hills between Rome and Naples in the province of Frosinone, spread out spectacularly across a ridge near the Lazio-Abruzzo border. It is an attractive town with narrow lanes, pretty piazzas and ancient ruins. Apart from its Roman history, evidence of which can be seen in the remains of the ancient Roman roads, Via Latina and Via dell'Aquila Romana, Arpino was the seat of both the Colonna and Boncompagni families, prominent Roman nobility. The Renaissance-style Palazzo Boncompagni is a symbol of the wealth of the period. Below Arpino, in the Liri valley, the church of San Domenico marks the site of the villa in which Cicero was born. 

Modern Formia is a busy ferry port on the coast of
Lazio between Naples and Rome

Travel tip:

The town of Formiae, where Cicero was killed outside his villa on the Via Appia, is now known as Formia.  Situated on the coast of the Lazio region, between Rome and Naples, in Roman times it was one of a string of resorts favoured by the Roman elite. After the collapse of the Roman civilisation, much of their legacy of sumptuous villas disappeared and it was not until the late 19th and early 20th centuries that the area enjoyed a substantial revival as another wave of wealthy Romans invaded the coastline to build holiday homes.  Many of these were destroyed by bombing in the Second World War and the Formia of today is more of a modern port than a seaside resort, a departure point for ferries to Ponza, Ischia and Ventotene.  Some ruins remain, including the Tomba di Cicerone, a mausoleum built to house the remains of the great orator, and the Cisternone Romano, an enormous cistern built by the Romans to draw water from an underground reservoir.

Also on this day:

1698: The birth of librettist Pietro Metastasio

1920: The birth of singer-songwriter Renato Carosone

1929: The birth of director Sergio Leone

1952: The birth of politician Gianfranco Fini

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2 January

Riccardo Cassin – mountaineer

Long life of partisan who was fascinated by mountains

The climber and war hero Riccardo Cassin was born on this day in 1909 at San Vito al Tagliamento in Friuli.  Despite his daring mountain ascents and his brave conduct against the Germans during the Second World War, he was to live past the age of 100.  By the age of four, Cassin had lost his father, who was killed in a mining accident in Canada. He left school when he was 12 to work for a blacksmith but moved to Lecco when he was 17 to work at a steel plant.  Cassin was to become fascinated by the mountains that tower over the lakes of Lecco, Como and Garda and he started climbing with a group known as the Ragni di Lecco - the Spiders of Lecco.  In 1934 he made his first ascent of the smallest of the Tre Cime di Lavaredo in the Dolomites. The following year, after repeating another climber’s route on the north west face of the Civetta, he climbed the south eastern ridge of the Trieste Tower and established a new route on the north face of Cima Ovest di Lavaredo.  In 1937 Cassin made his first climb on the granite of the Western Alps. Over the course of three days he made the first ascent of the north east face of Piz Badile in the Val Bregaglia in Switzerland.  Read more…

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Giulio Einaudi - publisher

Son of future president who defied Fascists

Giulio Einaudi, who founded the pioneering publishing house that carries the family name, was born on this day in 1912 in Dogliani, a town in Piedmont.  The son of Luigi Einaudi, an anti-Fascist intellectual who would become the second President of the Italian Republic, Giulio was also the father of the musician and composer Ludovico Einaudi.  Giulio Einaudi’s own political leanings were influenced by his education at the Liceo Classico Massimo d'Azeglio, where his teacher was Augusto Monti, a staunch opponent of Fascism who was imprisoned by Mussolini’s regime in the 1920s.  After enrolling at the University of Turin to study medicine, Einaudi decided to abandon his studies to work alongside his father Luigi in publishing an anti-Fascist magazine Riforma Sociale - Social Reform.  His own contribution was to establish a cultural supplement, edited by the writer and translator Cesare Pavese, which so offended Mussolini that in 1935 the magazine was closed down and the staff arrested.  Einaudi spent 45 days in jail along with Pavese and several writers who would later become celebrated names, including Vittorio Foa, Massimo Mila, Carlo Levi and Norberto Bobbio.  Read more…

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Pope John II

First Pope to choose a regnal name

John II became Pope on this day in 533 in Rome, the first pontiff to take a new name after being elevated to the Papacy.  John had considered his birth name of Mercurius to be inappropriate as it honoured the pagan god, Mercury.  He chose John as his regnal name - or reign name - in memory of Pope John I, who was venerated as a martyr.  Mercurius was born in Rome and became a priest at the Basilica di San Clemente, a church with ancient origins near the Colosseum.  At that time in history, simony - the buying and selling of church offices - was rife among the clergy.  After the death of Pope John II’s predecessor, there was an unfilled vacancy for more than two months, during which some sacred vessels were sold off.  The matter was brought to the attention of the Roman Senate, which passed its last-known decree, forbidding simony in papal elections.  This decree was confirmed by the Gothic King, Athalaric, who ordered it to be engraved in marble and placed in St Peter’s Basilica.  He added a stipulation that if a disputed election took place in the future, a sum of money was to be paid by the Roman clergy, which would be distributed among the poor.  Read more…

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Piero di Cosimo – painter

Florentine artist achieved world wide recognition

A Renaissance artist famous for his elaborate landscapes, Piero di Cosimo was born on this day in Florence in 1462.  His paintings are now in galleries all over the world and experts credit him with bringing the Renaissance spirit into the 16th century, while adding vivacity and lyricism.  The painter was born Piero di Lorenzo di Chimenti, but he became known as Piero di Cosimo after being apprenticed to the painter Cosimo Rosselli, with whom he frescoed the walls of the Sistine Chapel.  Early in his career he was influenced by the Flemish artist, Hugo van der Goes, and from him acquired a love for painting the countryside with all the plants and animals in great detail.  Piero di Cosimo eventually moved to Rome where he began painting scenes from classical mythology and he also developed a reputation for eccentric behaviour among his fellow artists.  But he was regarded as an excellent portrait painter and regularly received commissions. His most famous portrait, of a Florentine noblewoman, Simonetta Vespucci, who was the mistress of Giuliano dè Medici, is now in a gallery in France.  Read more…

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1 January

Guglielmo Libri – book thief

Nobleman stole more than 30,000 books and documents

The notorious 19th century thief Guglielmo Libri, who stole tens of thousands of historic books, manuscripts and letters, many of which have never been found, was born on this day in 1803 in Florence.  A distinguished and decorated academic, Libri was an avid collector of historic documents whose passion for adding to his collections ultimately became an addiction he could not satisfy by legal means alone.  He stole on a large scale from the historic Laurentian Library in Florence but it was after he was appointed Chief Inspector of French Libraries in 1841 – he had been a French citizen since 1833 – that his nefarious activities reached their peak.  As the man responsible for cataloguing valuable books and precious manuscripts across the whole of France, Libri had privileged access to the official archives of many cities and was able to spend many hours in dusty vaults completely unhindered and unsupervised.  He was in a position to “borrow” such items as he required in the interests of research with no pressure to return them. Where the removal of a book or document was forbidden, he would smuggle them out under the huge cape that he insisted on wearing.  Read more…

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Claudio Villa - singing star

'King' of Sanremo sold 45 million records

The singer Claudio Villa, who sold 45 million records and won the Sanremo Music Festival four times, was born on New Year's Day in 1926 in the Trastevere district of Rome.  The tenor, nicknamed 'the little king' on account of his diminutive stature and fiery temper, lent his voice to popular songs rather than opera although his voice was of sufficient quality to include operatic arias in his repertoire.  His four wins at Sanremo, in 1955, 1957, 1962 and 1967, is the most by any individual performer, a record he shares with Domenico Modugno, the singer-songwriter who was at his peak in the same era.  Villa recorded more than 3,000 songs and enjoyed a successful film career, starring in more than 25 musicals. His biggest hits included Ti Voglio Come Sei, Binario, Non ti Scordar di Me, Buongiorno Tristezza and Granada.  He was a frequent guest on the Italian TV variety show Canzonissima, which was broadcast on state channel Rai Uno between 1958 and 1974. Later, he became a master of traditional Italian and Neapolitan songs.  Born Claudio Pica, the son of a taxi driver, he was raised in a working class area, living in the shadow of Rome's main prison in Via Lungara.  Read more…

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Cesare Paciotti - shoe designer

Exclusive brand worn by many celebrities

The shoe designer Cesare Paciotti, whose chic collections have attracted a celebrity clientele, was born on New Year’s Day in 1958 in Civitanova Marche, a town on the Adriatic coast.  His company, Paciotti SpA, is still headquartered in Civitanova Marche, as it has been since his parents, Giuseppe and Cecilia, founded their craft shoe-making business in 1948, producing a range of shoes in classical designs made entirely by hand.  Today, the company, which trades as Cesare Paciotti, has major showrooms in Milan, Rome and New York and many boutique stores in cities across the world. The business, which also sells watches, belts, others accessories and some clothing lines, has an annual turnover estimated at more than $500 million (€437 million).  Cesare Paciotti inherited the family firm in 1980 at the age of 22, having spent his late teenage years and early adulthood pursuing his interest in the arts by studying Drama, Art and Music at the University of Bologna, and then travelling to London, the United States and the Far East.  When he returned home, he already had solid shoemaking skills, having learned from his parents in their workshop as he grew up.  Read more…

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Valentina Cortese – actress

Vibrant performer made more than 100 films

Film star Valentina Cortese was born on this day in 1923 in Milan.  She had an acting career lasting nearly sixty years and won an Academy Award nomination for her performance as an ageing, alcoholic movie star in Francois Truffaut’s Day for Night in 1973.  Cortese was born to a single mother, who sent her to live with her maternal grandparents in Turin when she was six years old.  She enrolled in the National Academy of Dramatic Arts in Rome at the age of 15 and made her screen debut in 1940. This paved the way for her first internationally acclaimed film in 1948, an Italian adaptation of Les Miserables with Gino Cervi and Marcello Mastroianni, in which she played the roles of both Fantine and Cosette.  She then appeared in the British film The Glass Mountain in 1949 and also appeared in many American films of the period, while continuing to work in Europe with directors such as Michelangelo Antonioni, Federico Fellini and Francois Truffaut.  After signing a contract with 20th Century Fox, Cortese starred in Malaya with Spencer Tracey and James Stewart and The House on Telegraph Hill with Richard Basehart and William Lundigan.  Read more…

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Capodanno in Italy

Toasting the New Year the Italian way

New Year’s Day is called Capodanno in Italy, which literally means ‘head of the year’.  It is a public holiday, and schools, Government offices, post offices and banks are closed.  After a late start following the New Year’s Eve festivities, many families will enjoy another traditional feast together, either at home or in a restaurant.  Visitors and residents will attend church services throughout the country before sitting down to a festive meal and toasting 2016 with a glass of good Prosecco.   Rai Uno will be broadcasting a New Year’s Day concert live from La Fenice in Venice at 12.20 local time.  The Catholic Church remembers cardinal-priest Giuseppe Maria Tomasi di Lampedusa who died on this day in 1713.  He was the son of the Prince of Lampedusa in Sicily but he renounced his inheritance and joined a religious order.  Later in life he worked to reform the church and was created a cardinal-priest by Pope Clement XI who admired his sanctity.  He was buried in a church near his home after his death but his remains were later transferred to the Basilica of Sant’Andrea della Valle in Rome and he was canonised by Pope John Paul II in 1986.  Read more…

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