Roma contemporanea

by Edmond About

"Roma contemporanea" by Edmond About is a travelogue and social study written in the mid-19th century. It examines the Papal States—especially Rome—through concrete observations rather than political argument, portraying institutions, city life, religion, economics, and art with a sharp, ironic eye. The journey frames Rome within a wider Mediterranean context to highlight contrasts and reveal how everyday realities under papal rule compare with more modern urban models. The opening of this work declares it is not a political pamphlet but a literary study drawn from a six‑month tour, noting that debate has given way to action and that Rome’s regime prides itself on immobility. The narrative then launches into a lively, data‑rich portrait of Marseille: the Canebière as a global gateway, the stark contrast between the clean, expanding “new city” and the fetid, crumbling old quarters, and the vast redevelopment around La Joliette. About sketches the Marseillais as energetic, risk‑taking, sociable, and indulgent—tolerant in business failures, exuberant in theaters and cafés, and locked in a comic rivalry with Aix. He surveys key industries (sugar refining, seed‑oil extraction from sesame, soap works, cork production), celebrates an exceptional businesswoman who runs major factories, and shows how steam navigation and the Messageries accelerate trade, especially in grain during poor harvests. He condenses a mini‑history of speculation, the cleanup of the local bourse, and the shift toward solid securities. Municipal ambition dominates: canals, ports, a cathedral, a bourse, a palace of justice, and an imperial residence, all financed with confidence in future growth. He closes this beginning with a tart critique of local artistic taste and museum management, segueing into an illustrative Bavarian anecdote about how civic pride often misguides cultural decisions.