Ciao a tutti:  

Viva Italia! What a great game! With a 1-1 tie at the end of regulation play, Italy made all five of their penalty shots to defeat France 5-3 and earn their 4th World Cup. As Italian Americans we can be justly proud of this accomplishment.  

I T A L Y   R U L E S ! ! !  

Your editor will be taking a week's vacation. Our next report will come out on July 24.  

Fraternally,
Robert Necci

WORTH REPEATING

“As an Italian and captain, I feel offended. These stereotypes that are applied to us come from an old culture that has been overly abused. It shocks me that this can happen in a civilized country like Germany.” – Fabio Cannavaro, Italy’s Soccer Captain, in response to an online article (written before their World Cup match) of the German newspaper Der Spiegel which said that Italians were “lazy and greasy, among other things.”

IN THE NEWS

July 2, 2006 – The Sunday Times (Ireland, United Kingdom) - Italians are the healthiest Europeans

People in Britain spend more years suffering ill health than most other Europeans, according to research by the European Union. The figures suggest that British women can expect 60 years of fit and active life. In Italy, the healthiest nation, they can expect to enjoy robust health until they are over 74. Irish men get 63 years of disability-free life, while Irish women have 65. Britons and Irish people are living longer, but the differences in life expectancy across Europe are relatively small. The far wider differences in quality of life are much more significant, researchers believe. They emphasize that their figures are only estimates. But they hope the study will encourage countries to focus healthcare on increasing the number of “healthy years” enjoyed by their citizens and not simply on extending lives. The research, based on questionnaires filled in by about 60,000 households around the EU each year, found that Irish men have a life expectancy of 74.9 years, but can expect only 63.4 years or 85% of their lives in good health. The healthiest, Italians, spend 70.9 years in good health, equivalent to 92.3% of their lives.

For the complete story visit the following link:

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2091-2252666,00.html

July 2, 2006 – The Observer (Rome, Italy) - Life on the Beach Is too Much for Most Italians

Italians heading for the beach this weekend will have to pack fat wallets as well as sun cream after a consumer association revealed that the cost of a day at the seaside is nearly beyond the financial reach of ordinary families. The consumer organization Adoc says a family of four has to pay an average of €73 ($93.42) for a few hours on the beach. The sum, including entry to commercially run lidos, the hire of sun beds and umbrellas, parking and petrol costs, is 7.3 per cent higher than last year. Adoc has written to local authorities, asking them to increase the number of free beaches and to keep prices in check. “This would not only be a way to allow young people and families to enjoy a day at the beach without spending a fortune, but would also calm down beach operators, whose prices are already nearly out of reach of the normal family balance,” said a spokesman. The association claimed families were being forced to reduce the number of times they go the beach; those who would normally spend two weeks by the sea during Ferragosto, the traditional August holiday, are cutting back to 10 days.

For the complete story visit the following link:

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/world/story/0,,1810737,00.html

July 3, 2006 – ANSA (Aquileia, Italy) – Ruins Revived at Aquileia

Italian archaeologists are working hard to unearth more of the largest Roman city ever uncovered, a colony that served as a bulwark against barbarian invasions before being destroyed by Attila the Hun. Aquileia in today’s far north east, once the third-biggest city in Roman Italy, had been largely wiped off the map by foreign attacks and centuries of stone looting. But some of its ancient splendor remained in traces of its baths, temples, port, public buildings and private dwellings. Specialists from the University of Udine have been bringing the city back to renewed life so as to make the place - one of Italy’s World Heritage sites - more interesting for the visitor to look at. “We’re now focusing on uncovering the lay-out of the public baths, one of the largest and plushest of the fourth century AD, measuring more than two hectares,” said lead archaeologist Marina Rubinich. As a term of comparison, the largest baths in the famous buried city of Pompeii are about half the size. The Udine University lecturer also said her team was gathering together scattered pieces of the city to exhibit in a revamped museum on the site.
For the complete story visit the following link:

http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-07-03_10363848.html

July 3, 2006 – ANSA (Naples, Italy) - Wine: Italy Out to Break New Ground

Italy’s wine producers are looking to break into emerging markets in order to consolidate their lead in the world’s export rankings. Italy was the top wine exporter last year in terms of volume, ahead of Spain and France, according to the International Wine and Vine Organization (OIV). But experts at the 61^st congress of the Italian Oenologists Association (Assoenologi) stressed that there is potential to do even better. “Around 90% of our wine exports go to just 11 countries,” said Stefano Raimondi, the wine and drinks director of the Italian Foreign Trade Institute (ICE). “We must conquer the other countries too - there are over 200 of them.” Figures presented at the conference showed that Italian producers’ attempts to break into new markets have paid handsome dividends in recent years. Exports to India have increased 80% in the last four years, while sales to Mexico were up 20% in 2005 alone. Roughly half of Italian wine exports, which were worth nine billion euros in 2005, are absorbed by Europe. At the moment most of the rest goes to North America.

For the complete story visit the following link:

http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-07-03_10363431.html

July 4, 2006 – Seattle Times (Seattle, WA) - Naming Names in a Small Town

What are the chances of driving into a small town in southern Italy and, within two minutes of parking the car, meeting someone with your same last name? Pescolanciano is a hill town of about 1,000 residents a few miles over a mountain from Civitanova. It has an ancient castle and drawbridge, and a tratturo, a grassy path that shepherds once used to herd sheep and cattle between the highlands of Abruzzo and Molise, south to Apulia, for the winter. But few foreigners visit, so we attracted some attention when we parked our van in the square and started walking down the main street, looking for the house where Tom’s grandfather lived as a boy. Women poked their heads out of upstairs windows. A group of men outside the bar quit talking and stared. Luciano Pellegrino stopped kicking a soccer ball around with his 13-year-old son. “Why are you here?” he asked. I was surprised to hear English, and I explained that Tom’s grandfather, Joseph Auciello, was born here. Unlike in Civitanova, where we have cousins, we knew no one in Pescolanciano. “My mother-in-law’s name is Auciello,” he said. Just then, a woman came out of a food shop across the street to see what was going on. He introduced her as Ana Auciello, 70, whose grandfather was named Joseph.

For the complete story visit the following link:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/travel/2003078849_italyweb4.html

July 5, 2006 – ANSA (Rome, Italy) – Italians Drinking Less

Italians are drinking less than ever, according to a report out Friday that countered recent alarms about a surge in youth bingeing. “The survey shows that alcohol consumption is dropping steadily,” said survey Chief Allaman Allamani of the Doxa research agency. He highlighted that, while Italians were in fact boozing more in their late teens and 20s, “they tend to get back to traditional Mediterranean habits as early as their 40s.” The amount of plonk Italians knock back has halved to about three glasses of wine a day over the last 30 years, Doxa said. Youngsters are turning more to beer but wine remains the favorite tipple of the 93% of the population who are drinkers. Some 20% of Italians are teetotalers, the survey found.

http://ansa.it/main/notizie/awnplus/english/news/2006-07-05_1053879.html

July 6, 2006 – Zenit (Rome, Italy) - Fountains Still Pride of Rome: Fresh Waters Reflect Papal Generosity

As Rome temperatures soar, and the sun reflects off the travertine in the Forum and St. Peter’s Square, turning the city into a giant kiln, tourists start to view an old attraction with new eyes: the fountains of Rome. While the Trevi and the Four Rivers fountains are always high on people’s must-see list, it takes the scorching heat of Roman summer to see these works not only as photo opportunities, but also as examples of the generosity of Papal Rome. The seventy-odd elegant sculpted fountains, as well as hundreds of simple water spigots, ensure that one never has to go far to find a source of refreshing water. Savvy tourists carry empty bottles to refill as they go along. The constant flow of water through the city has been a source of pride for Rome since its earliest beginnings. Rome was famously founded on seven hills, lifting the first settlements above the level of the Tiber River. The hills are laced with underground springs, and the early population dug wells and cisterns to obtain fresh water, supplementing from the Tiber when necessary.  Pope Sixtus IV (1471-1484) took this urban renewal one step further, baptizing the reborn Rome by reconditioning the most famous of Rome’s aqueducts, the Aqua Virgo.

For the complete story visit the following link:

http://www.zenit.org/english/visualizza.phtml?sid=92202

COMMUNITY EVENTS CALENDAR

For a listing of many Italian and Italian American programs, updated regularly, visit the John D Calandra Italian American Institute’s Community Events Calendar at the following link:

http://qcpages.qc.cuny.edu/calandra/community/commcal.html

ITALIAN JOB

By Alan Alda – Family Tree Magazine, August 2006

For this “M*A*S*H” star, heritage is always in character. By the time I finished high school, I’d made up my mind what I wanted to do with the rest of my life. I wanted to act. I was 16, and I announced it one day to my father, formally. He looked at me without saying anything for awhile.

“You don’t think you’d like to be a doctor?” he asked.

I knew he had wanted to be a doctor, but I didn’t want to be one. He could see I was determined, and he let it go.

And then he gave me the only advice he ever gave me about acting. “Always find a place to sit down,” he said. “Your legs will get tired.” I nodded as if I understood. This is really strange advice, I thought. What could he possibly mean?

Then we talked about what my name would be. Would I use the name I had been born with: D’Abruzzo? But I realized that most people couldn’t pronounce my name, even after I’d said it three times. Alda was a name my father had constructed by taking the first two letters of Alphonso (his own true first name) and the first two letters of D’Abruzzo. In practice, it was now our family name, so I said I would stick with Alda, which I think made him happy.

My father enjoyed being Italian, as I did, and he identified himself as an Italian even in the ‘40s, when it wasn’t especially popular to do that. The rest of the country saw Italians as somewhat foreign creatures without much class but a lot of names. When he went to Hollywood, his press releases started including the information that his real name was Alphonso Giuseppe Giovanni Roberto D’Abruzzo, about three first names more than he was born with.

When he sang on The Ed Sullivan Show, he chose the Italian love song “Oh, Marie” and dedicated it to “all my paisans out there.” He was trying deftly to play both sides by pointing to his Italian ancestry, but doing it in terms the American audience would accept. Italians were OK as long as they were colorful, fun-loving folks who had the good taste to know their place. He was a handsome leading man who, without making a big deal out of it, was moving the boundary a little.

My father, from a working-class background, dreamed of celebrating his good fortune with his family and the neighborhood he grew up in. As soon as he had saved a few dollars from the modest salary he was earning at the studio, he organized a block party in Queens for what he billed as his 800 cousins (another stereotype he gladly played into).

I loved going back with him to visit family in Queens. There would be a Sunday dinner that went on for several hours at a table that took up the whole living room of my grandparents’ tiny apartment. From the first steaming dish of ravioli to the chestnut shells littering the table at the end of the meal, there was laughter and loud talk. A lot of the laughter was at the expense of my grandfather, a small, quiet man who had been a barber until he retired but now spent his days looking out the window and following the activities of the neighborhood. He sat quietly nursing the half-glass of red wine allowed by his doctor and looking for ways to trick someone into pouring him a little more.

I was glad, as I sat with my father deciding on a name, that Alda sounded Italian.

A TRIBUTE TO CENTENNIAL DAY

By Silvia Montemurro

It is a stellar day, June 22, 2005, and Mott Street and Order Sons of Italy Way ceremoniously vibrates with OSIA bicentennial exhilaration of subsequent Italian American generations; on that day they will attempt to unravel the essence of the centennial celebration bequeathed to them by the OSIA members of 2005. What they will discover is that euphoric jubilance seeded the June 22, 2005 centennial anniversary in

Little Italy, New York, for any OSIA member in attendance can attest to the stupendous grandeur of the events on that incredible jewel of a temperate day mellowed with azure skies and glistening sunshine. Everything and everybody aspired to the methodical synchronization orchestrated by our endearing Grand Dame, Lucy Codella, OSIA National Historian, and her centennial committee, under the phenomenal directives of our National President Joseph Sciame. We owe an eternal debt of gratitude to all for their

undying perseverance and mammoth energies for making this day, this Order, the best that it can be. What a wonderful legacy of commemorative activities has been left to the future by all OSIA participants on that day!

Our first destination was the United States Custom House at Bowling Green, New York. Even though I have experienced notable world-wide travels, I had never visited this majestic building with its overpowering facade and magnificent interior rotunda. The architectural complexity is reminiscent of European structures and houses interesting immigration exhibits; however, we were enticed by the wine/cheese/cookie reception which commenced with fanfare into a speech filled agenda with political American and Italian dignitaries. National President Joseph Sciame and I had been previously received

by these same dignitaries in our April 2005 “Return of the Immigrant” trip in Italy, and it was very impactful to graciously greet them again on American shores. After the interchange of commemorative plaques and gifts, each lodge partook of the parade of lodge banners around the rotunda and onto the immense exterior steps of the building. Past President Sal Farina and I, Orator Silvia Montemurro, vigorously and proudly

carried the Arturo Toscanini #2107 banner into the founding sequence of the initial commencing of each lodge according to districts nationwide. The purple and gold banners draped down the expanse of stone steps etched a beautiful portrait for the audience seated before us, and a spectacular vista was created for us looking down upon them and into the park beyond with cascading waterfalls completely encircled with

brilliant red geraniums. During the program many leaders and politicians, such as Tony Avella, Chairman of the Italian-American Caucus of the New York City Council and Thomas Suozzi Nassau County Executive, delivered inspiring speeches citing the significant goals and achievements of our order. The highlight, however, was the administering of the Members Oath of Recommitment by Supreme Court Appellate

Division Justice Frank J. Montemurro, Jr. The city streets heightened by the mundane pulsating dynamics of the daily midday rituals, suddenly came to a halt as everyone, people on the street, people on towering sightseeing double-decker buses, people everywhere seemed to salute us with waves and cheers of recognition. This scene was a very deeply moving and interactive moment which I will always hold sacred in my heart.

We then proceeded towards the bronze statue of the Financial District’s Bull. After laying wreaths of red, white, and green flowers around its neck, we raised the American and Italian flags on adjacent flagpoles spiring to dramatic heights literally and figuratively steepled into the vastness of the elixirs of the unknown. Impacted immeasurably by these emotional experiences, we again boarded the four parked buses without a glitch to our next scheduled event Mass at Old St. Patrick’s Cathedral.  Immersed with high spirited jubilation, our mood suddenly became stunned as the buses in uniformed rows glided to a gigantic cycloned expanse of open land. It took us a moment to realize that we were deadlocked in traffic right before the ashen shadows of the World Trade Center. Somberness pervaded the gaiety on the bus as we gazed upon this gaping shell, and I immediately sought the comfort of my dear friend and colleague, Professor Donald Ferruzzi, who had accompanied me on this trip, as well as Past National President and State Trustee Peter and Edith Zuzolo and Past Presidents and State Trustee Richard and Rose Albertson, and Vice-President Nat Mannino and his wife Josephine. Somehow the importance of our centennial anniversary was passionately infused with sorrow, grief, pride, patriotism, but most of all, an extraordinary sense of bounty for the ancestral gift of the American life.

We prayed for all the lost souls as the bus arrived at the Cathedral in Little Italy here Archbishop Celestino Migliore, Permanent Observer to the United Nations for Vatican City, said Mass in celebration of the OSIA 100^th Anniversary accompanied by the soul-searching homily of Father Donald Licata, OSIA National Chaplain, to our OSIA congregation of over five-hundred people who completely filled the Cathedral to occupancy. After Mass we formed a procession through the Little Italy Streets and marched with the escort of a band festively dressed in red, white and green costumes and most reminiscent of the Italian feasts of my childhood. As I marched dutifully waving the little Italian and American flags given to each of us, I felt such an uncanny sensation of the spiritual presence of Dr. Vincent Sellaro and every Italian-American who propelled us, their descendents, to this captive monumental moment in time. I, indeed, was as much honored to be given the opportunity to partake of this requited homage to all that went before.

Our parade suspended New York traffic until we arrived at a staging area before 203 Grand Street where our OSIA leaders and political dignitaries unveiled a cornerstone citing the 2005 centennial to be affixed adjacent to the original time capsule of 1905. After wreath laying and balloon releasing, we sauntered onto Mulberry Street to Sal Anthony’s SPQR where a delectable culinary banquet was served. During the dinner Presidential Lifetime Achievement Awards were presented to three recipients: Mario M. DeJulio, Frank Ricco, and our beloved editor of The Golden Lion, Sal Moschella. We were also entertained by singers and a host of commemorative honors. Cutting the 100^th Anniversary cake culminated the day’s dynamic events, and the shimmering strand of lights in Little Italy erupted magically upon that new born summer night as we embarked for home inundated with the tangible vibes of history.

Yes, my dear bicentennial brothers and sisters of 2005, pomp and ceremony exuded on this occasion, and we sincerely hope you can comprehended our OSIA space, our OSIA dimension, or OSIA infrastructure, our OSIA ideal for 2005. We were indeed proud to be Italian-Americans rooted in our past and bonded to the future. We celebrated with heightened knowledge that even though we will not be with you physically in 2005, our OSIA spirit will forever be perpetuated, for we carried the torch for you igniting the flame more intricately with every endeavor. Do remember us, do remember our great leadership, for your posterity will indeed be indebted to the self-sacrificing and heart rendering accomplishments of our outstanding officers and members of 2005. May all that went before you guide you, for we voluntarily dedicated our efforts, our assets, and our Italian-American lives with this cornerstone. Buona Fortuna con amore in 2005!

LESSONS OF ROME
The rise and fall of the Roman Republic provides lessons that hint at flaws in modern political policies.
By Steve Bonta, The New American – February 21, 2005

This is the 10^th (final) installment in a series of articles on the rise and fall of the Roman Republic.

From a modern vantage point, Roman history instructs poignantly on both the genius of prudent government and the folly of empire. Imperial Rome was finally extinguished in the fifth century A.D., and though strands of her culture persisted - in the Venetian Republic, in the Byzantine Empire, and in Western Christendom, which preferred the Latin language over the vernacular for the next thousand years - the books were closed on the civilization of Cicero, Brutus, and even, the Caesars. Because well-constituted usually decline gradually rather than suddenly, the lessons of Rome were centuries in the teaching - centuries that, to most Romans, made the loss of Roman liberty only vaguely noticeable.

The primary reason for Rome’s fall was moral decline. Every Roman writer who chronicled the fall of the republic - Appian, Tacitus, Cassius Dio, Sallust, Cicero, and others - marveled at the evaporation of ancient virtue that preceded the loss of liberty. While republican Rome lacked many of the softer virtues of later Christian civilization, there can be no question that, in comparison with most contemporary pagan societies, Rome was a paragon of rectitude, resisting for centuries many of the debilitating vices and superstitions of the rest of the pagan world. Where the Greeks institutionalized homosexual behavior, sexual perversion was taboo in the Roman Republic. Where the Carthaginians practiced human sacrifice, including child sacrifice on a large scale, Rome generally refrained from such excesses. Where Persia, and Babylonia before her, submitted to an all-powerful priesthood who were superior in power to political rulers, Roman priests remained subordinate to magistrates of the republic.

Cultural Revolution

The end of the republic saw a revolution not only in political but in moral and even religious manners. By the first century B.C., sexual mores had been abandoned, and the former sanctity of marriage forgotten. Crime, once almost unknown in Rome, became rampant. In such an environment, Rome became an easy target for political conspiracies like that of Catiline, which exploited the criminal elements in Rome to carry out bribery, blackmail, and assassination.

More ominously still, the bucolic simplicity of authentic Roman religion was gradually contaminated by a monstrous cult from the east, the Persian mystery religion of Mithra that, by the late second century A.D., had permeated every level of Roman society. This cult was in fact a vast secret society consecrated to emperor-worship and to the amoral doctrine of radical dualism - the idea that good and evil are eternal, absolutely equivalent principles that must both be appeased. It was apparently introduced into Rome in the first century B.C. by the Cilician pirates and spread through the ranks of political officialdom and the military, claiming as adherents emperors like Commodus, Aurelian, Diocletian, and Julian.

Fortunately for Western civilization, Christianity eventually eclipsed Mithraism, breathing new life into decrepit imperial Rome. Rome’s successor civilization in the East, Byzantium, was sustained for more than a thousand years by the Christian piety of her citizens and more capable rulers, despite ceaseless assaults by barbarian nations and an irremediably weak system of law and government.

Wages of War

Much of Rome’s strength in her early years flowed from her martial virtues. Her citizen soldiers were fearless and superbly organized. The Roman genius for order soon led to innovations in military science that made the Roman legions a virtually invincible fighting force for centuries. But Rome’s military successes engendered a love of conflict and conquest that hastened her undoing. For republican Rome was unwilling to interrupt her ceaseless warfare at the water’s edge, and plunged into overseas empire building at the first challenge from abroad.

The Punic wars were followed by several generations of mostly craven conquest against much weaker foes in Iberia, Africa, and Asia Minor. Caesar’s victories over the Gauls were mostly achieved by playing disunited tribes against one another, and further encouraged Rome to trust in her own invincibility. Yet when Rome was confronted with truly formidable foes, the results were sometimes calamitous. Such was the case with the Parthians at Carrhae and the Germans at Teutoberg, both of which resulted in the slaughter of entire legions.

In the imperial period, the sturdy Gothic nation, unimpressed by Rome’s inflated opinion of herself, became Rome’s most successful adversary. To the north, the Germans never succumbed to Roman arms, and to the east, the Persian empire of the Sassanids presented an impossible challenge. But Rome, once addicted to international warfare, never found the strength of will to lay down the sword. Her endless wars of conquest depleted her coffers (despite the plunders of war), decimated her population, made enemies far and wide - and created irresistible pressure for surrendering domestic liberties.

For Rome, her greatest civic strength had always been her unity. Until the late second century B.C., Rome had never seen bloodshed from civil unrest. The various disputes between the plebeians and patricians had always been resolved by negotiation and political reform. But beginning with the administrations of the Gracchi in the late second century B.C., Rome exploded into episodes of partisan violence. The following century saw a series of devastating civil wars that tore the republic apart and eased the way for the rise of military dictators like Caesar, Antony, and Octavian, who put an end to Roman liberties. From that time forward, Rome was never free from factional violence. Political assassinations and riots, unknown in the early centuries of the republic, became commonplace. Emperors were enthroned and deposed almost exclusively by military coups, often accompanied by dreadful purges and epic battles.

Constitutional Flaws

The Roman constitution, superior though it was to other contemporary political systems, contained a number of serious flaws that came to the fore as the republic disintegrated. For one thing, it provided for the appointment of dictators for six-month periods during times of acute crisis, an institution that furnished a pretext for military corps by the likes of Marius, Sulla, and Caesar. For another, the Roman constitution failed to give equal protection to all Roman citizens, institutionalizing the patrician aristocracy and ensuring that Rome would always have a ruling class.

While the Roman system of government recognized the need for checks and balances and for separating the powers of the state among various offices and magistracies, the Roman state did not enjoy the neat modern divisions of executive, legislative, and judicial power. Instead, fragments of these powers were parceled out into various offices. The judicial power, for example, was shared among certain of the assemblies and the praetors. The executive power was divided among the consuls, praetors, senate, quaestors, and others. The legislative power, meanwhile, appertained to the various assemblies and to the Senate.

Like the ancient Greek city states, Rome provided for deliberation and even the enactment of laws by the masses in popular assemblies. This serious flaw - the absence of representative government - guaranteed all of the instability and tumult associated with direct democracy, finally leading to the rise of unscrupulous demagogues.

Overall, the Roman Republic, even in its best years, was a far cry from the standards of liberty and peace to which modern Americans are accustomed. Rome was at war nearly all the time, and all able-bodied men served throughout their prime adult years during each campaigning season. Roman citizens were bound by rigid class distinctions, and slavery was pervasive. Citizenship was generally not granted to subject peoples, even in Italy, until the first century B.C.

Above all else, it must be borne in mind that Rome was a pre-Christian civilization. Absent from Roman culture was the value on human life and individual dignity that I has characterized enlightened states in Western Christian civilization. The Twelve Tables of Roman law required the killing of deformed infants, for example. Moreover, while the Roman military, at least during the republican period, acted with more restraint than was characteristic of the ancient world, their wars, battles, and sieges were nonetheless usually fought without negotiation and without quarter for the vanquished.

Legacy of Rome

The fall of Rome, although a tragedy to the generations that experienced it, has proven to be a blessing for mankind in the longer term. For while Rome’s collapse led to a dark age of several centuries, it also made possible, in the longer run, the rise of a modern civilization that has far eclipsed Rome’s greatest achievements. Had Rome maintained indefinitely her grip on England, Anglo-Saxon civilization with its distinctive common law system could never have arisen. Germany would never have become civilized without the demise of the Roman legions that fought unceasingly to subdue her. The Italian city-state republics would never have inaugurated the Renaissance under the heel of the Roman military. Modern Western civilization, especially American civilization, with all of its blessings of freedom and progress, could never have been born under the banners of the Roman legions.

But Rome lives on in the fragments of Roman civilization that have inspired and guided her modern inheritors. It was a reawakening of interest in classic language and culture, particularly art and architecture, that motivated the pioneers of the Renaissance. Roman laws were the source of the civil law code of continental Europe, and had significant influence on English law as well. The Latin language has enriched modern English immeasurably, providing us with a vast scientific, academic, and legal lexicon.

Perhaps most importantly, America’s Founding Fathers looked to Rome as their primary inspiration in learning the lessons of civilizations past, lessons extracted from striking historical parallels that modern Americans would do well to heed. Like America, Rome began as a tiny colony of immigrants surrounded by hostile neighbors. Like America, Rome was governed first by kings, and founded a republic when its monarchy turned into despotism. Like America, early Rome placed great importance on separating and limiting the powers of government. Like modern America, republican Rome embarked on a destructive program of foreign military adventurism that added to her international prestige but sapped her strength and resources. Like America, Rome succumbed to the temptations of the welfare state, teaching her citizens to divide into factions to fight over the spoils of the public treasury and to depend on government for their material well-being. Like America, Rome saw the rise of subversive movements that attacked her free constitution. And like the America in which we now live, Rome underwent a dizzying cultural and moral decline, which, in the case of Rome, eventually destroyed Rome’s capacity for self-government.

In spite of the many parallels, there are also differences that suggest that America need not suffer the same fate as Rome. For one thing, in spite of the venality of modern American society, we are nowhere near the pitch of moral decline depicted in the pages of Suetonius, Tacitus, and Juvenal. For another, our Constitution is vastly superior to Rome’s, and ought to prove far more durable. Most crucially, modern America possesses many layers of strength - cultural, moral, religious, institutional, and even technological - that ancient Rome did not have, that may allow America to endure where Rome faltered.

With all her tarnished greatness, Rome is a witness, not only of the pitfalls of power, prestige, and prosperity, but of the transcending truth that, even under the most adverse circumstances, freedom and enduring civilization are possible.

NOTE: An updated version of this 10-part series is available in paperback from American Opinion Book Store: http://www.aobs-store.com or by calling 1-800-342-6491. Cost is $8.95 + 5.37 for S&H.

                                                             JULY ALMANAC
                                                          Italic Institute of America

July 2 - Inventor Guglielmo Marconi receives a patent on his wireless telegraphy system, forerunner of radio, in 1897.
July 3 - Marie DeMedici dies in 1642. She intorduced the Italian arts to France which included cooking, ballet and opera.
July 4 - The Altar of Augustan Peace (Ara Pacis Augustae) was consecrated in 13 B.C. It commemorated the start of the Roman Peace (Pax Romana) and the completion of Italian unity.
- Freedom fighter Giuseppe Garibaldi is born in Nizza (now Nice, France) in 1804. He helped to reunify Italy in 1860.
July 8 - Explorer Giovanni Verrazzano returns from the New World to France in 1524. His voyage was the beginning of France's claims to North America.
July 12 - Julius Cæsar is born in 100 B.C.
July 13 - Father of Chemistry Stanislao Cannizzaro is born in Sicily in 1826.
July 14 - Cardinal Giulio Mazarini (Jules Mazarin) is born in Pescina, Italy in 1602. He was the prime minister of France during the early reign of Louis XIV.
July 16 - In 1941, baseball’s Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio hits successfully for the 56^th consecutive time, a still unbroken record.
July 17 - Italian expeditionary troops on the Western Front (France) successfully block the German attack at the 2nd Battle of the Marne in 1918.
July 18 - Manager of the Champion NY Yankees, Joe Torre, was born in 1941.
July 25 - Italian leader Benito Mussolini sends four army divisions to the Austrian border to block Hitler’s attempt to annex that nation in 1934. The British, French and Americans do nothing. Germany backs down.
July 26 – Italy’s luxury liner Andrea Doria sinks in 1956 with a loss of 52 lives. A later inquiry faults the crew of the Swedish freighter Stockholm for the collision.
- U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte creates the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) in 1912.
Source: http://italic.org/July Almanac.htm

UPCOMING EVENTS

• July 12-16, 2006 — Annual Lady of Mt. Carmel Feast. Constantino Brumidi Lodge #2211. Contact: Roy Perticone, (631) 242-5492.
• July 16, 2006 — Grand Lodge presents Italian Day with the Long Island Ducks. Picnic at 3:30 PM. Game at 5:05 PM. Adults $40, Children (3-9) $30; 2 years and under free. Contact: Kathy Vitzthum, (516) 932-1178.
• July 21-22, 2006 — Summer Italian Festival at the Geneva Lodge #2397 Pavilion. 2 PM. $2 per person. Contact: Dan Chelenza, (315) 781-2203.
• July 23, 2006 — Gino Di Napoli presents the best Italian/American music. 1 PM. Sit down luncheon at the “Bavarian Inn,” Lake Ronkonkoma. $30 per person. Limited seating. Advance tickets required. Contact: Gino DiNapoli, (631) 242-5808, dinapoli1@aol.com or website: www.ginodinapoli.com
• July 23, 2006 — A Special Event Presented by Stony Brook University Center for Wine, Food, and Culture - Sapore d’Italia: A tasting of Italian and Italian American wines and foods. 5:30 PM. Wang Center. $30 per person. Note: age 21 and over, please. The Center has a 48-hour cancellation policy. Contact: Ginny Clancy, (631) 632-9404.
• July 29, 2006 — Summer Plenary Session. Hosted by Rockland Lodge #2176, Blauvelt, NY. Contact: Marianne Principe O’Neil, (516) 785-4623.
• August 5, 2006 — Medici Foundation kick-off event for the Little Italy Historical Landmark Designation Project. Contact: Anthony M. Sinocchi, President, The Medici Foundation, Inc., 375 Greenwich Street New York, NY 10013. (212) 941-2380, (212) 941-2390 fax.
• August 5, 2006 — Bocce Tournament at the Geneva Lodge #2397 Pavilion. 12 Noon. $20 per person. Contact: Jamie Kaim, (315) 781-2242.
• September 16, 2006 — Districts I, II, & III CSJ – A Day at the Races at Belmont Park. 11:30 AM. $42 includes admission, program & clubhouse buffet lunch. Contacts: Tony Corsello, (516) 766-5518; Lee Cerullo, (516) 671-1693; or Rick Annichiarico, (631) 757-1439.
• September 24, 2006 — Garibaldi Meucci Museum Annual Brunch at LaGrange Inn, West Islip. 10:30 AM. Contact: Michelina Cangemi, (516) 933-7317 or Janet Rodgers, (631) 277-6101.
• October 1, 2006 — Italian Feast by Columbus Lodge #2143 at North Broadway, Massapequa. 11 AM. Contact: Tony Ventiera, (516) 797-4992.
• October 6, 2006 — Empire Lighting Ceremony. More information to follow.
• October 28, 2006 — Fall Plenary Session. More information to follow. Contact: Marianne Principe O’Neil, (516) 785-4623.
• October 29, 2006 — “The Giglio Feast of Brooklyn” by Prof. Salvatore Primeggio for the Loggia Glen Cove #1016. Held at the Glen Cove Library, Glen Cove. 2:30 PM. Contact: Kathryn Grande, (516) 676-7436.
• November 5, 2006 — Gift of Sight Annual Luncheon at Immaculate Conception Center, 7200 Douglaston Parkway, Douglaston, 1-5 p.m. More information to follow.

2007

• January 26, 2007 — 14^th Annual Winter Charity Ball at the Chateau Briand, Carle Place. More information to follow. Contact: Annette Lankewish, (516) 933-7393 or Madeline Matteucci, (631) 654-2578.
• January 27, 2007 — Winter Plenary Session. More information to follow. Contact: Marianne Principe O’Neil, (516) 785-4623.
• April 27, 2007 — 25^th Anniversary Golden Lion Awards Dinner at the Garden City Hotel. Contact: Marianne Principe O’Neil, (516) 785-4623.
• April 28, 2007 – Spring Plenary Session. More information to follow. Contact: Marianne Principe O’Neil, (516) 785-4623.

Nota del Redattore:

• The Italian Heritage & Culture Committee Chair will send out a weekly news synopsis of articles and announcements of interest which compliment the Italian and Italian American Experience in America. Our sister and brother members are urged to submit items of interest.
• This report is available online at: http://www.nysosia.org/heritage.asp

Respectfully submitted:
Robert Necci
Coordinator - Italian Education, Culture & Language Committee
Chair – Italian Heritage & Culture Committee
2101 Bellmore Avenue
Bellmore, NY 11710-5605
HeritageandCultureReport@nysosia.org

STATE PRESIDENT CARLO MATTEUCCI

Goals & Objectives: 2005-2007 Administration

ITALIAN CULTURE, HERITAGE and EDUCATION

To promote, preserve, and support our Italian culture, heritage, and language by implementing this element of the Order in our parades, functions, meetings, and conventions.