Abstract

VALLEJO, Gustavo. Rome: capital of an empire under the banner of political biology (1936-1942). Dynamis [online]. 2012, vol.32, n.1, pp.115-140. ISSN 2340-7948.  https://dx.doi.org/10.4321/S0211-95362012000100006.

This paper analyzes the symbolic conformation of Rome and Romanism as important factors in the affirmation of the power of fascism, especially after the proclamation of the Empire in 1936. Within this framework, it explores the role of science in legitimizing the direct correlation of this symbolic universe with a praxis that exalted racial superiority inherited from Ancient Rome. It investigates the links between the eugenic discourse and the exercise of power behind the "biology policy", including fascist organicism and racism. In fact, Rome was the essence of an empire that was reborn after fifteen centuries and, between its historical legacy and the new scenarios created by fascism for disciplining the population, Romanism had to condense all of the merits of the race, encouraging military conquests and promoting responsibility for maintaining racial purity and avoiding "unwanted miscegenation" with conquered peoples. The idea of Romanism also encouraged a continuation of the persecution of Jews started in Germany. Hence, science ratified a widespread idea of the Romanization as a crusade to impose a force, exaggerated on racial grounds, which integrated confidence in environmental factors with a crude biological determinism.

Keywords : Rome; fascism; race; eugenics; biotypology; political biology.

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