by John Mancini | Jan 18, 2026 | Uncategorized
L. Munatius Plancus In my father’s hometown of Gaeta (Lazio), Italy there stands the tomb of Lucius Munatius Plancus (c. 87 BC – c. 15 BC), a Roman soldier and politician who allied himself with both Julius Caesar and his successor Octavian. In fact, it was...
by John Mancini | Jan 12, 2026 | Uncategorized
Dr. Joseph Giordano, the man credited with saving President Ronald Reagan’s life on the day he was shot in 1981, passed away last June at age 84. Dr. Giordano was among the many ethnic Italians that stand out in history. You find them in the most unlikely...
by Bill Dal Cerro | Jan 8, 2026 | Uncategorized
In 1995, the late Tony Bennett released Here’s to the Ladies, a tribute album to the great tunes from the American songbook made famous by female singers, from Ella Fitzgerald to Barbara Streisand. It won him a Grammy Award for Best Traditional Pop Vocal...
by John Mancini | Jan 5, 2026 | Uncategorized
Italic Studies is not my whole life, only part. But sometimes life draws you back to it. Just today, a young nephew and I walked past a branch of the Bank of America. As an Italian American college student taking a history course I wondered if he knew who...
by John Mancini | Dec 31, 2025 | Uncategorized
Christmas and New Year’s Day were handed down to us centuries ago. Their message is actually the same—a new start. Christianity was launched with the birth of a child and January 1st opens a new year. Both events coincide for a practical rather than a...
by Bill Dal Cerro | Dec 30, 2025 | Uncategorized
A new year brings good cheer—at least, that’s everyone’s hope. Speaking of cheers, a colleague of mine pointed out a rather odd irony in Stanley Tucci’s recent series in Italy. Whenever dining with Italians, he would often use that very...
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