LICTORIA PARVA. UNA GRANDE IMPRESA ARCHEOLOGICA E UNA PICCOLA FONDAZIONE ITALIANA A CRETA

Abstract

The original of this typescript, which was probably not written for publication, was sent to Count Fr. Pellati, General Director of Antiquities and Arts at the Ministry of National Education at the end of 1935. The first part is a simple geographic and historical presentation, which uses strong but also clearly didactic tones and adjectives, so as to rouse the interest of the recipient, and enlarge the merits of the actors. The various steps and practical difficulties of the exploration are remembered with extreme reality, with great pleasure and also some «literary» aspirations. It is in any case a precious direct testimony for those difficult environmental conditions. The central issue is the logistical history of the Cretan Mission, from 1899 to the construction of the house at Phaistos in 1931.

The new structure, labelled «Lictoriaparva», is described in a paradisiacal scenario (in contrast to the infernal conditions at the beginning). The strange fascist term was used to recall the draining of the surrounding marshes, which the members of the Italian mission had witnessed. The reference, therefore, needs to be to the Italian pontine marshes: «perciò le demmo l’insegna dei fasci e il titolo di ‘Lictoria parva’».