It's been 64 years since Benito Mussolini unleashed his latter-day Roman legions against Ethiopia, an invasion that shocked a simpler world in the days before World War II. The Italians not only conquered Ethiopia; they looted the ancient empire as well. Among the treasures spirited to Rome: the Obelisk of Axum, which the Ethiopians have been trying to recover for decades. They thought they had a deal last year, when Italy's center-left government agreed to return it. But like most of Italy's post-war governments, that one is gone, replaced by Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-rightists, whose coalition includes the once-Fascist National Alliance party. Now, the obelisk has been declared "a naturalized citizen" of Italy, and it's anybody's guess when, or if, it will ever see Addis Ababa again.
Spoils of War
It's been 64 years since Benito Mussolini unleashed his latter-day Roman legions against Ethiopia, an invasion that shocked a simpler world in the days before World War II. The Italians not only conquered Ethiopia; they looted the ancient empire as well. Among the treasures spirited to Rome: the Obelisk of Axum, which the Ethiopians have been trying to recover for decades. They thought they had a deal last year, when Italy's center-left government agreed to return it. But like most of Italy's post-war governments, that one is gone, replaced by Premier Silvio Berlusconi's center-rightists, whose coalition includes the once-Fascist National Alliance party. Now, the obelisk has been declared "a naturalized citizen" of Italy, and it's anybody's guess when, or if, it will ever see Addis Ababa again.
