They are the genial storm troopers who patrol mass transit
in Rome. Wearing a black uniform on the back of which read “Servizi per il
territorio” with Roma Capitale embroidered in red underneath this officer of
transportation law stopped passengers without valid metro tickets. Romans
apparently take their transportation seriously and those caught trying to sneak
under the wire, will be brought to justice. As a 75 bus on its way to Termini
passed the famed Colosseo stop, several passengers were showing their
identification to a second officer who was dutifully recording their statistics
on his smart phone, before stepping off the bus and disappearing into the rush
hour crowd. There are soldiers carrying machine guns and automatic rifles all
through the downtown area in front of major sites like the Teatro Marcello
and the Vittorio Emmanuelle monument on the Piazza Venezia. And though the era when
the Carabinieri created fear and loathing are long gone, there's still a
residue of the old days when the separation between church and state was less
palpable and the laws of the church, especially pertaining to sexual indiscretions, were
upheld with similar dispatch.
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