Cola's Speech at the Palazzo Trivio

It is September in the Year of Our Lord 1342. Cola di Rienzo asks his friends at the Palazzo Trivio if he might make use of their balcony for a speech. Spanning the apex of the triangular palazzo that overlooks a modestly sized piazza, it is the spot where crowds last massed to watch Gepetto Bardone leap to his death. In the days before that appointed, he sends out Pino and his gang of urchins to spread the word, and bids the masters of the palazzo to send word to their clienti and have them bid their friends and families also to attend.

The square is thronging at the appointed hour and the streets leading to it are packed with people, each vying with the other to get the best view of the Notaio of the Aventine, and hushing each other that they might hear his words.

Cola walks out onto the balcone, flanked by some of his compares. He raises his arms to signal for silence and the crowd hushes, intrigued to hear what this man has to say to them, for few bother to speak to the folk of the Suburra.

“The government of the City has been stolen by a few powerful men, who rule not by law but by force, and who call their tyranny government. Rome, once mistress of the world, is now the servant of these men and oppressed by those who should defend her. We all know of whom I speak. These men say they are senators, but they are not senators - they are shadows, empty of justice and virtue. Justice has been sold for gold, offices for favour, and the laws of Rome are mute before the swords of the great. It is the people of Rome that are the living body of the City; the nobles are but members, and no member should rule the body."

Cola went on in this vein for over an hour, though he was bound to stop frequently such was the volume of cheering that went up from the crowd at his every word. He spoke of his own struggles in the aid of the people. He referenced his destruction of the "Scimie Volante" ( a nod here to his compares upon the balcony with him) and the recent rescue of the nuns of Santa Bibiana (again acknowledgement) in evidence of his care of the people of Rome, in direct contrast to the inactivity of the baroni. He gives many examples of less martial actions that he has taken as a notary to help the ordinary folk of the Aventine and other areas of the city. He adds many salutary lessons from history to illustrate his points and speaks much of the past glory of Rome and its people.

He leaves the balcony at last to the sound of cheering. At length, when it is clear that he will not appear again that day, the crowd reluctantly disperse, heading for their homes talking animatedly to each other about what they have heard that day.

The Suburra

Background

The Suburra is an ancient district of Rome. An evil reputation clings to it, for even in the time of the Roman Republic it was ever a place of the poor and the wretched, a district known for its night-life, its brothels, its taverns, its gambling dens, its cut-throats and criminality, and its thriving street markets selling stolen and smuggled goods at suspiciously reasonable prices. As it was then, so it remains.

Tucked between the western slopes of the Viminal and Esquiline hills, and including the Cispian ridge that thrusts out between them, in ancient times it occupied twin valleys, facing the Palatine and Capitoline across the Roman Forum. However, there is little evidence now of this topography. The custom of building the new upon the bones of the old has persisted now for two thousand years and more. Thus below today’s Suburra are mazes of forgotten streets, sewers and ancient waterways on many levels. Some common byways are such that one must carry a torch or lantern or summon a link boy to traverse them even in daylight.

While the bounds of the Suburra are ill-defined in other directions, to the west the district ends abruptly in a mighty parapet. This retaining wall runs across the neck of the valley between the Viminal and the Oppian ridge of the Esquiline that bound the Suburra and clearly marks its western extent. The Conti and the Frangipani maintain strongholds at either end of the parapet and those that would use stairs at either end of the parapet leading down to the Forum must treat with them. Along Il Parapetto are to be found the more prosperous and sunlit dwellings of the Suburra.

The rest of the Suburra is a press of insulae – tenements built high around a central court - where folk live cheek by jowl, some in extended family groupings, others in loose confederations of mutual support based on circumstance. There are few comforts to be found in most of them and open fires are common, for warmth in winter and for cooking. Fire is a constant hazard, for though insulae are commonly encased in stone or brick, their interiors are typically constructed of timber. A fire is oft-times a death sentence for all within.

The Three-Way House

The Three-Way House, until recently the stronghold of the Bardoni, lies in the north-eastern extent of the Suburra, upon the southern slopes of the Viminal Hill. Indeed, it is arguable that whether the Three-Way House is truly within the Suburra at all. Certainly, the small piazza in front of it is the sort of open space in short supply within the Suburra proper. The palazzo, while not a stronghold in the sense of those of the Conti and the Frangipani, is certainly the most prestigious dwelling of the Suburra.

The Gangs of the Suburra

In a lawless city, the Suburra is by far the most lawless rione. In the absence of any effective clerical or lay authority (beyond occasional brief encroachment by the Conti or Frangipani), it is dominated by a complex and constantly shifting gang culture whose currency is theft, murder and extortion.

Almost every insula has its capo. This may be the head of the dominant family living in the tenement or simply the biggest dog amongst squatters in a building. They live by extorting the other residents who may make their money by theft, prostitution or by more traditional commerce. Many insulae have shops built into their external-facing street-level walls – and many residents of the Suburra make their denarii by relative honest means. They still need carpenters, masons, water carriers and traders in foodstuffs and raw materials. Some of these capos might have a small kingdom comprising several insulae. In return for his (or her) cut the capo’s role is to protect and support the welfare of their clienti. Some attend to this side of their role more assiduously than others. There other duty is to interface with the bigger gangs who inevitably predate upon them and their flock. There are many such gangs in the Suburra but here are some of the most prominent:

I Cani del Macellaio – The Butcher’s Dogs	Grown out of the meat trade, I Cani are the go to gang for muscle and body disposal. They often provide foot soldiers – for a price – in other gang conflicts. It is said that Carlo Bardone was close to them and that they have taken a lot of casualties in the events surrounding the fall of the Bardoni.
La Mano Rovinata - The Ruined Hand	Predominantly beggars, pickpockets, street thieves and market traders, they deal in information and stolen goods. Said to have been close associates of Ornella Morisi, who was in a similar business and was a frequent customer.
I Carbonai – The Charcoal Burners	A legitimate business selling firewood and charcoal around the Suburra is a front for a more sinister protection racket and shakedown outfit. Their proposition is simple – pay up or be burned out. Hated and feared in equal measure by all, they have no friends and don’t care.
Le Donne della Lupa – The She-Wolves	A loose sisterhood of prostitutes, madams, and lower-class women who band together for mutual protection - and occasional savage vengeance. Blackmail, theft, poisoning, seduction-for-hire, abortion services are their stock in trade along with information brokering.
I Topi Grigi – The Grey Rats	Experts in the subterranean places of the Suburra. Known for scavenging, burglary from below, smuggling and secret transit and the unearthing of secrets. They are close with La Mano Rovinata and were rivals of Ornella Morisi.
I Uomini Alti – the Tall Men	Second-storey-men and masters of roof-top pathways. Experts at house-breaking and cat-burglary. Known to crack open hard targets – at a price – for other gangs. Unaligned.

The Conti and Frangipani

Many would say that no account of the gangs of the Suburra is complete without mention of the Conti and the Frangipani. However, first and foremost they vie with each other for the domination of the Parapetto district. They take little or no interest in activities of the gangs of the Suburra unless they are provoked by some action against them or their clients. Their interventions then tend to be with overwhelming force and no mercy towards any that they can catch who they hold responsible for whatever annoyed them in the first place. They are seldom discerning in the matter of such guilt.

The whole Suburra is agog that they combined to attack the Bardoni. The silver-tongued notaio from the Aventine has much for which to answer. The fervent hope is that they go back to fighting each other as soon as possible. Consiglieri all over the Suburra are advising their clienti not to align publicly with sorcerors or kidnap nuns.

The Notaio rescues the Nuns

The Lord be Praised!

Cola di Rienzo has this day rescued the six nuns kidnapped from the Santa Bibita convent. He discovered that their captors were the notorious Fratelli Bardoni, whose gangs terrorise the Suburra. They were working in collusion with the sorceror Aristophane Caltagirone - the author of the Scimioni Volanti who terrorised Rome last year.

It seems that the Notaio of the Aventine brokered an alliance between the Conti and the Frangipani to storm their palazzo in the Suburra. It is great testament to his silver tongue that he prevailed upon those two mortal enemies to co-operate - even to do God's work.

However, it is rumoured that Cola had already contrived to take the palazzo by stealth from the inside so that the arriving nobles had naught to do but clear the rabble that congregated in the streets outside. It was there that the brutish Carlo Bardone was slain. Justice was meted out to the older brother Gepetto the following day as he was hung from his own battlements after being taken - again by the Notaio's men - at the house of his mistress.

Bravo Cola di Rienzo! Bravo il Notaio d'Aventino!