Eternal

In real life and in Eternal, parts of Italy were ruled by a Fascist government from 1943 to 1945. During this period, Italy became allied with Germany. Under Benito Mussolini, Italy’s government instituted censorship of opinions and press, which Elisabetta observes in the novel, claiming “All the articles are the same, about how the great the government is” (6). She witnesses the violence of Fascist rule, which her father experienced after painting over a Fascist emblem—his hands were broken in retaliation. Led by Mussolini, who tries to replicate the so-called glory of the Roman Empire, Fascist Italy proceeds to campaign in Ethiopia. Some of Part 2’s epigraphs are quotes from Mussolini’s own works, where he argues “Much of that which was the immortal spirit of Rome rises again in Fascism” (101).

At Mussolini’s command, Marco explores the excavation of Roman ruins, which further ties Fascist Italy to Ancient Rome. Rome itself becomes the origin and center of Fascist power, as Mussolini’s rise begins with the March on Rome in 1922. Through a show of force, he topples the existing Republican government. Fascist Italy’s focus on nuclear families and so-called native Italian race lead to race laws that prohibited intermarriage with Jewish people.