Graziani, 'Verso il Fezzan' (Tripoli, 1930): title page with Badoglio preface and Virgil motto

Title page of a general's account of the Italian advance into the Fezzan, printed in Tripoli. Under the red title it announces a preface by a Marshal of Italy, Pietro Badoglio, 'Marquis of Sabotino', and sets a Latin line from Virgil as the motto: 'Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos'. The tell: the colonial campaign is introduced through the senior marshal's name and a Roman imperial motto, so the book's authority and framing come from rank and Roman precedent, not from any stated evidence.

Date: 1930
Period: Interwar
Made by: Gen. Rodolfo Graziani, Italian colonial army in Libya; published by F. Cacopardo, Tripoli, Anno VIII (1930)
Region: Western and Central Europe
Country: Fascist Italy
Medium: Books and pamphlets
Issuer type: Military
Regime: Fascist Italy
Leader: Benito Mussolini
Audience: Domestic public
Purpose: Persuade or win support
Themes: War and the military, Empire and colonialism
Techniques: Transfer Testimonial
Regime: Fascist Italy under Mussolini
Leader: Benito Mussolini
Source: Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
Source: Wikimedia Commons (scan of the printed book, uploaded 2020), retrieved October 2, 2026
Rights: Public domain (US): book published Tripoli 1930, before 1 Jan 1931 (Commons PD)
Rodolfo Graziani, Verso il Fezzan, Tripoli: Cacopardo, 1930; via Wikimedia Commons.

Text on the object

Original (Italian) · read from the image, not independently checked

GEN. RODOLFO GRAZIANI

VERSO IL FEZZAN

CON PREFAZIONE DI
S. E. IL MARESCIALLO D'ITALIA PIETRO BADOGLIO
MARCHESE DEL SABOTINO

PARCERE SUBIECTIS
ET DEBELLARE SVPERBOS
Virgilio (En.)

EDITORE F. CACOPARDO - TRIPOLI
ANNO VIII

English translation (machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader)

GEN. RODOLFO GRAZIANI

TOWARDS THE FEZZAN

WITH A PREFACE BY
HIS EXCELLENCY THE MARSHAL OF ITALY PIETRO BADOGLIO
MARQUIS OF SABOTINO

TO SPARE THE SUBJECTED
AND TO WAR DOWN THE PROUD
Virgil (Aeneid)

PUBLISHER F. CACOPARDO - TRIPOLI
YEAR VIII

The motto is printed with a V for U in 'SVPERBOS', kept as printed. Translation is a machine translation by Claude, not verified by a fluent reader.