14 JULY 1928, Page 12

A LETTER FROM ROME. [To the Editor of the SPECTATOR.]

SIR,—The great welcome given to Prince Spada Potenziani and Donna Myriam on their visit to London aroused great interest here. In particular, the London correspondents of the chief Italian newspapers seized the opportunity of tele- graphing long and picturesque descriptions of the state and pageantry of the English court. Of late interest in things English has been continually increasing, and much attention is being paid to English art, literature and sport. I hope the idea of sending an English theatrical company next autumn to give performances in Rome will not be allowed to drop.

Rome has just witnessed for the first time a Rugby football match. Rugby first found its way to Italy by way of Milan, last year ; in March of this year the game was taken up here by a group of Fascist students. A Rugby section was organ- ized by the Lazio Club and Sig. Cortesi, a journalist well known in English and American circles, was appointed President. The team, which naturally contains several foreign members, played its first match against a team from Brescia in the National Stadium a few Sundays ago, and was victorious. The second match was played against a French team, " Les Prime veres," and resulted in a defeat for the " Lazio," the final score being 34-14. An interested and numerous crowd of spectators, to whom were distributed leaflets explain- ing the rules of the game, filled the Stadium on both occasions.

The usual calm of the dead season has been enlivened by the performance at the old Roman theatre at Ostia of Enrico Corradini's tragedy, Julius Caesar. Corradini is, of course, the author of the celebrated work, The Unity and Power of Nations, the founder of the Italian Nationalist party, and therefore in a sense the prophet of Fascism. The play, which was written twenty-five years ago, was not performed until the spring of this year, when it was included in the cycle of classical drama staged at Taormina. The production, as done in Rome, gained a great deal from its setting, the torchlit amphitheatre standing out in glowing contrast with the sombre gloom of the surrounding campagna.

Present day Romans may be divided into two classes : those who have, and those who have not, received the " bap- tism of the air." The battesimo dell' aria consists in a seven minute flight around the new Rome Airport. Although the Airport was only opened last April, it is reckoned that over 10,000 persons have already made flights of longer or shorter duration, and it is interesting to note that the large majority have been women. A convenient motor-bus service plies between the centre of the city and the aerodrome—a distance of only three kilometres—and a souper-dansant at the Airport, followed by a flight round Rome, has become the latest addition to the programme of social diversion. The aerodrome in addition to a spacious double-story hangar and the necessary workshops, possesses a hotel, an open-air restaurant, and every facility for arriving and departing passengers. So far, the only regular service is that between Rome and Venice (connecting with Vienna) ; with the completion of the landing port on the Tiber (which skirts the field on the south side), the Aeroporto will become also the terminus of the Rome-Genoa and the Rome-Palermo seaplane services, which now start from Ostia.—I am, Sir, &c.,

YOUR ROME CORRESPONDENT.