Page 127 of Niccolo (Mafia Kings #7)

Niccolo

R ome –

The Eternal City.

The ancient Roman poet Ovid first bestowed that name eight years before Christ was born.

Eighteen hundred years later, the English poets Byron and Shelley called it the same.

Rome had been the beating heart of arguably the greatest empire in human history…

And though now only a shadow of its former glory, its magnificence still inspired.

The same held true for the mafia family that controlled Rome from the shadows.

Sicily was the patria, the original homeland of the Cosa Nostra.

Venice was the richest territory, and the Widow the wealthiest leader…

But the Severinos embodied the grandeur of the Eternal City.

Like my grandfather when he first came to Tuscany, they had focused on political corruption…

But unlike my grandfather, political corruption was merely a means to an end for the Severinos. Their primary goal was to own property.

In decades past, the Severinos had snapped up ruined palaces and ancient buildings for a pittance. Then, using their connections and leverage with politicians, they applied for tens of millions of dollars in grants to renovate the properties.

Forty years later, the Severinos owned some of the most beautiful buildings in the city – mostly paid for on the taxpayers’ dime.

A more famous story will illustrate how they did it.

Many people outside Italy don’t know it, but the Colosseum used to be just another ruin. As recently as the 1980s, it sat in an abandoned field.

Buses would pull up on the grass and disgorge a bunch of tourists who would wander inside without anyone stopping them. The Colosseum was open 24 hours a day to whatever teenagers or vagrants decided to trespass. Graffiti and vandalism were rampant.

There was a half-hearted restoration project in the 1990s, but it was underfunded.

Then, in 2011, the city partnered with a billionaire – Diego Della Valle, whose family owns a shoe empire – to fund a $35 million restoration of the Colosseum.

The city and Della Valle shared a vision: to have the Colosseum be the international symbol of Rome, much like the Eiffel Tower is the symbol of Paris, or the Hollywood sign is the symbol of Los Angeles.

If they succeeded, they believed that tourism would boom and the city’s profile would be elevated.

The project didn’t fully get off the ground until 2013 – but by 2016, the external facade had been cleaned and repaired for the first time since its construction in 72 AD.

A second phase began in 2018 to renovate the subterranean network of tunnels and chambers that had originally been concealed beneath the floor of the arena.

The project succeeded. The Colosseum is truly the international symbol of Rome and generates over $1.4 billion a year for the city in tourism.

Not a bad return on investment.

In the wake of the Colosseum’s massive success story, the Severino family began to lean heavily on the government for funds to renovate their historic properties.

Using blackmail, extortion, and good old-fashioned bribery, they got it.

In the last ten years, the Severino family had truly come up in the world.

They had always been well-to-do…

But now they were within reach of the Widow of Venice.

The Severinos had used that wealth – and the prestige of their home, one of the oldest and most impressive cities in the world – to consolidate their power within the Cosa Nostra.

They were connectors… facilitators… and arbitrators par excellence.

And now we would be guests in their kingdom.

Don Severino had called all Cosa Nostra families together from across Italy…

And soon, they would meet to decide the fate of me, my brothers, and Fausto.