to try to heal the rifts within our ranks. But the petty infighting and ridiculous egos of the most senior of our officers has taxed my patience. Even so, my allegiance is to my brothers. And only to them.”
“Over your own brother?”
“Even over my own brother.” Gallo hesitated, then said, “I foolishly thought I was the only one who could keep Kastor in check. I know him. Perhaps even better than he knows himself. I apologize again for what’s happened to you, Mr. Malone. I’m trying hard to rectify the situation.”
He decided to cut the guy a little slack. “My apologies, too. I’m just trying to understand the lay of the land.”
“I appreciate that. So what I’m about to tell you has remained within our ranks, as a cherished secret, for a long time. But I need your help, so I’m going to break protocol and tell you both a secret.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Luke listened to Spagna as he explained.
“In the early 1930s Mussolini wanted to show the world that Rome had returned to all of its imperial glory. So he started a massive urban redevelopment project. Neighborhoods were razed, buildings leveled, grand boulevards cleared and paved. People come to Rome today from all over the world and marvel at the architecture. What they don’t realize is that most of it bears the imprint not only of emperors and popes, but also of a cruel fascist.”
He and Laura listened as Spagna told them how Mussolini had wanted to attract a World’s Fair and even the Olympics. To do that he appropriated a tract of swampy land north of the city, adjacent to the Tiber, and constructed a grand complex.
The Foro Mussolini.
“Like the Forum Caesaris and the Forum Augusti. But in the ancient world those were places of commerce and religious worship. This one dealt only with sports, games, and politics. There were gyms, running tracks, swimming pools, and a garish twenty-thousand-seat travertine stadium, ringed by sixty marble statues of nude males wielding clubs, swords, and slings. It became a Black Shirt playground, home to the Fascist Academy of Physical Education, used for training and competitions. Mussolini himself worked out there regularly, and even more incredible, the place still stands.”
That surprised Luke.
“The complex is used for international competitions,” Spagna said. “The buildings house the Italian National Olympic Committee, a television station, a museum, a fencing academy, even a high-tech courthouse where terrorists and Mafioso were tried. The site has adapted, but there’s one part that has remained exactly the same.”
He waited.
“The obelisk.”
* * *
Cotton had never heard of the Foro Mussolini and the obelisk that Pollux Gallo had just described.
But he was intrigued.
“The obelisk is fifty-five feet tall,” Gallo said. “The largest single piece of marble ever quarried at Carrara. A perfect slab, free of cracks and imperfections, topped with a tip of gilded bronze. On it is inscribed MUSSOLINI DUX.”
He silently translated.
Mussolini leader.
“It was dedicated on November 4, 1932, to great pomp. Behind it stretches a huge piazza, paved with mosaics of muscled athletes, eagles, and odes to Il Duce. It’s all so repulsive, so grandiose. Like the man himself. But the obelisk is one of the last remaining monuments that still bears Mussolini’s name.”
Cotton knew the significance of obelisks, symbols of imperial power for centuries. Egyptians, Romans, emperors, and popes all used them. A natural that the fascists would turn to one.
“But it’s what lies inside the obelisk,” Gallo said. “That’s our real secret.”
* * *
Luke had to admit, the whole thing sounded fascinating. But he had to keep telling himself to not get caught up with the story and pay close attention to Spagna. This man had an unknown agenda.
“By any standard, the forum and the obelisk were grand gestures,” Spagna said. “But Mussolini went one better. He commissioned a codex to be written by an Italian classical scholar. A fanciful account on the rise of fascism, its supposed achievements, and its place in history. One thousand two hundred and twenty words of pure propaganda, which, on October 27, 1932, he sealed inside the base of the obelisk.”
Spagna explained how objects were routinely placed inside monuments, first done as an offering, a superstition. Eventually the practice of foundation deposits was used to carry forward the memory of the builder or the people who produced the structure. Mussolini particularly enjoyed the custom, filming the ceremonies for the newsreels. He would sign a dedication document with great flourish, seal it within a metal tube, then cement it himself inside the prima pietra,