Facilis Descensus Averno
Part 4.2: E' l'omo che propone, ma 'r popolo dispone: er cane c'ha 'r padrone ma l'omo nun ce l'ha! Viva la libertà! (17-21 April)
[from the Diaries of Count Terenzio Mamiani]
19 April: I spent the first half of the morning drafting the Proclamation for the people of Rome. I am not so sure that my efforts will please Pietro Sterbini, since I tried to pour oil on the troubled situation in Rome: the departure of the pope was obviously mentioned, but I chose not to announce the end of the Temporal Power and the birth of a Roman Republic, even if I myself believe that there is no other way forward; the arrival of Gen. Ferrari in Rome on Easter Day was also revealed, and the Romans were invited to the celebrations in the Coliseum Sunday afternoon; an Emergency Committee had been formed, to handle the transition to a Constitutional Government, formed of lay Ministers and answering to the Parliament; new elections would be held in a short time and a Constitutional Convention would be empaneled; the commitment to the prosecution of the war against Austria would continue. The Proclamation ended exhorting the people of Rome to enjoy their freedom but also to respect law and order.
This task done, I decided to go to the Circolo Romano, in search of further news. I found the streets of Rome tense and quiet at the same time, as if the people was just starting to realize the magnitude of the step they had taken, and was looking with mixed hope and apprehension to the future. Unsurprisingly, the news about the departure of the Pope and the arrival of Gen. Ferrari was already widespread: it is almost impossible to keep secrets in Rome. On my way, I met sig. Brunetti and stopped for a few words: Ciceruacchio would always be a good indicator of the feeling of the lower classes. He was obviously elated for the events of Campo dei Fiori, and revealed that he was mustered with the Guardia Civica there, on that fateful day, under the command of Francesco Sturbinetti (1), and it was Sturbinetti who had given the order to the Guardia Civica to wheel and volley when the dragoons had started their charge. Ciceruacchio had no qualms about this, and was very proud of his commanding officer and his comrades: the process had been a sham, and topping it with a massacre of the crowd could not be countenanced. He was less pleased with the disorders which erupted afterwards: this stout burgher had a natural leaning for law and order, and the burnings and the killings which followed for a day and a night disturbed him deeply. Finally, he was very sad for the future departure of the pope: even now, after all the contradictions of the papal rule he had to witness, sig. Brunetti held in his heart a deep reverence and love for the pope.
Pio IX could never be wrong, could never make a mistake, much less betray his subjects: he was deeply sure that the Curia was at the root of each and every evil which had happened, in particular the Austriacanti (2) Cardinals who had conspired in the shadows to thwart the true desires of the Good Pope. There was nothing I could do to change his mind, so I didn't even try, and after a few soothing words I left, mulling in my mind on the most surprising news I got: I had been wondering who had been in charge of the Guardia Civica in Campo dei Fiori, but I would never have imagined that Sturbinetti would had taken the snap decision to stop the charge of the dragoons. I know well Pietro Sturbinetti, and he is a good and upright man, a convinced liberal and an ardent patriot, but making this momentous decision? Once again, the spring of 1848 was proving to be a veritable cornucopia of surprises.
I found Aldobrandini and Sturbinetti at the Circolo Romano, just returned from their meeting with card. Antonelli. All the conditions discussed yesterday at the Circolo Popolare had been accepted: the Pope would leave Rome at dawn tomorrow for Gaeta; a few Cardinals would go with him (Lambruschini, Bernetti, Patrizi Naro, Gizzi, Orioli) as well as the ambassadors of Austria, Spain, Two Sicilies and Modena (all the other ambassadors would remain in Rome); the papal cortege would be escorted by the two remaining Swiss regiments and a dragoon regiment. Antonelli himself would remain in Rome, with the title of Cardinal Vicar pro-tempore, and would reside in the Lateran: his request of keeping a regiment of Swiss as security force for the Vatican and Lateran was refused, security would be guaranteed by the Guardia Civica. The Quirinal and the Viminal would be handed over to the Municipality.
Everything was quite satisfactory.
I met Sterbini at the Circolo Popolare: as I anticipated, he was not elated by my Proclamation draft, but after a brief discussion he agreed that it would be better to keep a low profile for the time being. He also mentioned he was writing an editorial for Il Contemporaneo, which would be published tomorrow: I only hope it will be not too divisive.
The Principe di Canino and dott. Masi were also there, and they both confirmed the political situation in Rome was quite good.
The prince was quite buoyant: "It's going to be the best of possible worlds: a revolution in Rome, and the man responsible for it is the Pope!"(3)
20 April: I had to witness the papal cortege leaving Rome, heralding the end of an age and the dawn of a new one: there was no pomp and no glory, a squadron of dragoons leading the cortege, followed by a string of coaches with the curtains drawn (I couldn't even guess which coach the pope would be in); the procession was closed by two regiments of Swiss, marching smartly. The Guardia Civica was present in force, but there was no incident: plenty of Romans were lining the road, in silence. If anything, it looked like a funeral.
There were no catcalls, no applauses: what a difference with the early days of Pio IX's papacy, when every outing of the pope was celebrated by excited crowds, calling all the blessings of God on his head.
Nothing else worth of note happened today, except only the publication of Sterbini's editorial on Il Contemporaneo: titled "The Demands of the People", it recounted a gruesome incident happened in Baden in September 1847 (4), when a peaceful electoral rally of the Democrats had been dispersed by a gruesome attack of the Baden dragoons, resulting in more than twenty casualties, and scores of arrests and subsequent sentence to jail. A leaflet listing 13 Demands of the People had been printed by the organizers of the rally, and, after the rally had been bloodily broken, had been reprinted in thousands of copies, becoming a cause célèbre in all the Germanies, being also the spark for the insurrection of Baden last month. Sterbini listed the 13 Demands, which, he argues, are most suitable also for the people of Rome and should be the basis for the future freedom. In all honesty, I could myself subscribe these demands, even if a couple of them advocate for a strong interference of the state into the rules of a free market: they may be right in principle, but their adoption would be likely to polarize the political debate, and potentially damage the alliance between liberals and democrats. I admit being somehow relieved, though: knowing Sterbini, I was expecting something much more incendiary.
21 April: This morning, at dawn, Gen. Ferrari and Major Masi entered Rome, followed by six regiments of Guardie Civiche, smartly attired in their uniforms and marching like veterans. Their route was lined by thousands of Romans, cheering wildly, applauding, throwing flowers. Gen. Ferrari with a single regiment went straight to Piazza San Pietro, where a solemn Easter Mass was celebrated in the basilica. Then the General and his men marched to the Coliseum, where further celebrations were planned.
The celebration of the founding day of Rome may be at odds with the celebration of Easter, but this year the resurrection of Our Savior coincided with the resurrection of the ancient freedoms of Rome, no one, from the loftiest aristocrat to the humblest laborer could deny it. Here also the third most important celebration took place: I never mentioned this before even in my diary, being sworn to secrecy, but the Emergency Committee had voted for offering Gen. Ferrari the dictatorship of Rome, for a period of 6 months, and Bonaparte and Aldobrandini had managed to convince Parliament to back this proposal. It had been justified by the the need of bridging the unsettled period between the departure of the Pope and new elections to be organized, and a new Constitution to be approved, but even more by the danger that Ferdinando di Borbone might decide to bring back the Pope to Rome with the bayonets of his soldiery: in such a case, who better than an experienced military man with an impeccable democrat and republican past history to be the shield of the new fledgling state? I saw the surprise in the eyes of Gen. Ferrari, I saw he was ready to refuse: at that point, 24 members of the Guardia Civica marched forward, each one holding a Republican axed fasces, according to the hallowed tradition of ancient Rome, and the thousands of Romans sitting in the amphitheater erupted into a mighty cheer.
Ferrari relented, and, drawing his sword, spoke in a ringing voice: "I accept the honor you do to me, Romani, and I do swear on this my sword that I will fight without fear or hesitation to uphold the newly regained freedom of the Roman people and that I will give back the laurels of dictator at the end of the prescribed period, or earlier if this is the will of the Senate and the People of Rome. So help me God. Lictors, keep your axes sharp and be ready to use them on me if I prove forsworn."
Footnotes
Federico Sturbinetti, born in Rome in 1807. A lawyer by trade, and a patriot, but late in entering the realm of politics. He joined the Guardia Civica as Captain in 1847, and in February 1848 was chosen as Minister of Public Works. Later on, he became Minister of Justice. Not exactly the man to start a revolution, but, hey, it's 1848.
Austriacanti (i.e. Austrian supporters) was the nickname of the conservative faction in the Curia most closely aligned with Austria's interests
The Prince of Canino wrote exactly these words in his OTL memoirs
The rally of Offenburg, in Baden, was held on 12 September 1847, organized by radicals and democrats and the 13 Demands of the People were printed and widely distributed. IOTL, the rally was dispersed by the dragoons, and there were many arrests and sentences to jail, but only minor casualties occurred. ITTL, things go much worse, and the rally becomes much more significant.
