The Other Brotherhood of the Wolf

I've found an interesting trend as of late. Stemming from the ancients, there was and still is an enormous sense of pride among those hailing from Italy's capital city.

All the stories tell us that the city of Rome was founded by brothers Romulus and Remus, who were abandoned by their mother but were fed and raised by a female wolf, or a lupa.

Sport stars of the modern age and simple inner city symbolizism reflect this great sense of pride in a city-state that transformed the world when it conquered most of it. Look at where modern Romans claim their heritage from. The levels of pride for Irish people and Mexican people are amazingly high in the United States. The same can be said of Italian people, whose families hail from all over the peninsula. But most modern Romans are so engrained in their culture that they don't even branch out to live anywhere else. They simply love their city and their culture far too much to venture away from it.

Francesco Totti                                                                                                                      Daniele De Rossi

I watch a lot of professional Italian soccer. The team I support most, and have supported the most for many years, is AS Roma (Atletico Sportivo Roma). Their team symbol is the one seen above - Romulus and Remus being fed by the she-wolf. They have two team nicknames - the Giallorossi (the yellow and reds) and The Lupi (the wolves). Two of their stars, team captain Francesco Totti, and "Il Futuro Capitano" (the future captain) Daniele De Rossi, are Roman through and through, and have been exclusively faithful to their club in a soccer world that sees players leave their teams for higher paychecks. Other teams have repeatedly attempted to buy their services, but always to no avail. They are loyal to their team - because they are loyal to the city of their birth. Totti even wears a tattoo of a Roman legionnaire on his right arm. On the other, he has one that reads "veni, vidi, vici," a Latin phrase coined by Julius Caesar, translating to "I came, I saw, I conquered."

AS Roma manager (coach basically), Claudio Ranieri, is also a true Roman, and along with Totti and probably De Rossi too, speaks Romanesco, a Roman dialect unique to the region. Ranieri is very well respected, and he commands as much with his mannerisms and his stone-cut but grandfatherly face. For a few years, Ranieri was the manager for Italian soccer team Juventus. When the Roma manager at the time, Luciano Spalletti, resigned, Claudio Ranieri jumped at the opportunity to manage the team he felt born to lead as a true Roman. The team is all the better for it, finishing second in the Serie A (Italian league) last season, and claiming a crucial win against a strong AC Milan team, just today.

I closely follow several sports, another one them being mix martial arts and the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championships). One of the fighters, Alessio Sakara, hails from Rome, speaks Romanesco, and claims as his moniker is "Legionarius." Suffice it to say, he also take great pride in his Roman upbringing, and his Roman culture. In the latest issue of UFC magazine (which I buy from Wal-Mart every two months), there is an article featuring Sakara, where he explains some of his Roman pride and where it comes from. He says that "So much of our history is important and inspiring - and not just to Italians. But my personal interest - and my name - comes from the fact that my ancestors were part of the Roman Legion in Egypt. When I was living in Brazil, my teammates used to call me the Gladiator, but gladiators in the Roman Empire were slaves. I explained I was more like a legionnaire, which was a free and respected soldier. Because of my family's origns, I have always been interested in history." Romans not all that into the subject of history still find themselves fascinated and in love with their own.

I was in Rome in 2004, and one of the most fascinating things about the trip was the fact that even the manhole covers to the city sewers bear the letters "S.P.Q.R." This was basically the trademark of the Roman Republic in the BCs and the Roman Empire in ADs, meaning "Senatus PopulesQue Romanus" - "Senate and People of Rome." You see this on the ruins and on modern edifices - even. as I said, on the manhole covers. The Irish-Americans and the Scandanavian-Americans, where I claim my roots, surely have our sense of pride in our strong histories and our willingness to pull together during times of struggle. But I dare say we rival the pride and the history of the Romans, who were not always just in their cause, but surely possessed the means to change the known world forever through their culture, their military might, and their innovation.