L'epigrafia del Ventennio fascista a Roma tra damnatio memoriae, restauro filologico e antecedenti classici

The rich epigraphic production, both in Italian and in Latin, made in Italy during the fascist period, is an interesting research field, to study one of the most controversial periods of the Italian history after the year 1860 and its public reception, thanks to the specific nature of “displayed writing” typical of any inscription. There will be presented some examples of fascist inscriptions from Rome, that have been erased, re-written, sometimes restored (not without some misunderstandings) in different ways, with different applications of damnatio memoriae. Aim of the paper is to reflect on the different strategies and approaches towards inscribed texts, also in comparison with similar cases drawn from ancient Roman history and epigraphy. The examples are extremely diverse and complex, since it’s often not easy just removing the texts, given their role as historical witnesses and their nature of monuments and artifacts, not to quote a still imperfect collective reflection about the fascist heritage.