In 1798, the armies of the French Revolution tried to transform Rome from the capital of the Papal States to a Jacobin Republic. For the next two decades, Rome was the subject of power struggles between the forces of the Empire and the Papacy, while Romans endured the unsuccessful efforts of Napoleon’s best and brightest to pull the ancient city into the modern world. Against this historical backdrop, Nicassio weaves together an absorbing social, cultural, and political history of Rome and its people. Based on primary sources and incorporating two centuries of Italian, French, and international research, her work reveals what life was like for Romans in the age of Napoleon.   “A remarkable book that wonderfully vivifies an understudied era in the history of Rome. . . . This book will engage anyone interested in early modern cities, the relationship between religion and daily life, and the history of the city of Rome.”— Journal of Modern History   “An engaging account of Tosca’s Rome. . . . Nicassio provides a fluent introduction to her subject.”— History Today   “Meticulously researched, drawing on a host of original manuscripts, memoirs, personal letters, and secondary sources, enabling [Nicassio] to bring her story to life.”— History "Nicassio is to be commended for the wide intellectual range and sophistication of her research. Her writing is direct, often witty, an refreshingly accessible. . . . A remarkable book tat wonderfully vivifies an understudied era in the history of Rome. . . . This book will engage anyone interested in early modern cities, the relationship between religion and daily life, and the history of the city of Rome." -- Christopher M.S. Johns ― Journal of Modern History "[ Imperial City ] is meticulously researched, drawing on a host of original manuscripts, memoirs, personal letterrs, and secondary sources, enabling her to bring her story to life. . . . [The author's]  prose is lively and entertaining, making it accessible to both scholars and a more general audience. . . . Probably the best work on the topic in print." -- Jeremy Black ― History Today “Meticulously researched, drawing on a host of original manuscripts, memoirs, personal letters, and secondary sources, enabling [Nicassio] to bring her story to life.” -- Wayne Hanley ― History Susan Vandiver Nicassio is professor of history at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She is the author of many books, including Tosca’s Rome , also published by the University of Chicago Press. Imperial City ROME UNDER NAPOLEON By SUSAN VANDIVER NICASSIO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS Copyright © 2005 Susan Vandiver Nicassio All right reserved. ISBN: 978-0-226-57973-3 Contents Preface...............................................................7Cast of Characters....................................................9Chapter One: Urbe et Orbe: The City and the World.....................13Chapter Two: The City.................................................31Chapter Three: The People.............................................55Chapter Four: Joys....................................................81Chapter Five: The Turning Year........................................107Chapter Six: Sorrows..................................................131Chapter Seven: Money, School and Work.................................151Chapter Eight: The New Regime.........................................171Chapter Nine: The Empire Versus God...................................195Chapter Ten: Restorations.............................................215Bibliographical Essay.................................................237Bibliography..........................................................245Index of Names........................................................253 Chapter One URBE ET ORBE : THE CITY AND THE WORLD In July of 1796, a strange phenomenon was reported in the popular districts of Rome. Romans traditionally prayed that the Madonna might 'turn her eyes towards them', and now it seemed as if their prayers had been answered in a notably literal way. Marian miracles, already reported in the provincial towns of Ancona and in the Marches, began to occur in Rome itself: in the street-side shrines, the eyes of the madonnas seemed to come alive, moving in their painted faces to look up in supplication, down in grief, or side to side to take in with love and pity the people who clustered around. At the bedside of an elderly nun, it was reported, the radical physician Liborio Angelucci cried out in alarm and fled from the room as the icon above the sick woman looked at him with reproach and gentle disdain. As French invasion seemed to grow ever more inevitable carnival was cancelled in favour of barefoot penitential processions led by cardinals and bishops, and the exposition of relics. None of this would be of any use. Nor would diplomacy, or barely disguised bribery. By 1798 Rome would fall to the armies