Travel Tips

“All within the state, nothing outside the state, nothing against the state.” — Benito Mussolini (1883-
1945)

If you enjoy sculpture, as much as I do, Stadio dei Marmi is a treat not to be missed. Because it stands beyond the city’s historic center, the Stadium of Marbles attracts few tourists. You can have the place to yourself, walk around freely. It is wonderful.

In the late 1920’s, Mussolini assigned the building of this sports complex to Enrico Del Debbio. Originally it was named Foro Mussolini; after the Second World War the name was changed to Stadio dei Marmi, which can accommodate 20,000 spectators.

These 60 wonderful, colossal, white marble figures are gifts from an equal number of Italy’s provinces. On the base of most the province’s name is chiseled.

“The function of a citizen and a soldier are inseparable.” — Benito Mussolini

Stadio dei Marmi became a Blackshirt playground, home to the Fascist Academy of Physical Education. By 1936, after Mussolini had conquered Ethiopia and declared a new Roman empire, the academy’s emphasis on fitness had come to imply battle-readiness. In 1938 Mussolini staged an operatic spectacle for Adolf Hitler at the Foro, with torch-bearing youths forming a huge swastika and the words ‘Heil Hitler’ spelled out in flickering flames.

Some of the marble athletes look so fierce they could have been modeled on Il Duce!

“The 60 wonderful statues here are something for Rome to be proud of. The Italian people’s — and history’s — condemnation of the Fascist era ought not to detract at all from the works of art of that period, which should be preserved and cared for.” — Francesco Rutelli, Italy’s culture minister

Signor Rutelli praised the move to replace The Javelin Thrower (dating from 1932) at a ceremony marking its installation in early August 2006. The heroic athlete had been struck from his pedestal by lightning in the late 1960s.

We could not figure out what the strange, spiked object this athlete is holding.

Some of the works of male physical perfection are covered with a fig leaf, others are au naturel.

Stadio Olimpico (behind the boxer in the photo), with a capacity of 100,000 spectators, was built when Rome hosted the Olympic Games in 1960 and reconstructed for the World Cup in 1990. A group of red stucco buildings on the grounds of Foro Italico house the Italian National Olympic Committee.

The area where Foro Italico was built had once been owned by the Farnese family, and even as late the 1920s it was known as Prati della Farnesina. The complex is made up of other sporting venues, indoor and indoor swimming pools, tennis courts (clay and grass), basketball courts, running tracks, fencing halls and a gymnasium.

Hercules, standing near the entrance, is appropriated for athletic inspiration.