Marble plaque quoting Mussolini's 9 May 1936 empire speech, Catania
A carved marble plaque on a Catania wall, framed by stylised fasces, quotes Mussolini: the Italian people created the empire with their blood, will make it fruitful with their labour and defend it against anyone with their arms. The abstract nouns (people, empire, blood, labour) stand in for any testable claim, and the plaque is signed with the leader's name and dated in the Fascist-era calendar.
- Date
- May 1936
- Period
- Interwar
- Made by
- Italian Fascist authorities (Catania; installing body not identified)
- Country
- Fascist Italy
- Medium
- Signs and banners
- Issuer type
- Mixed
- Regime
- Fascist Italy
- Leader
- Benito Mussolini
- Audience
- Domestic public
- Techniques
- Glittering generalities
- Leader
- Benito Mussolini
- Source
- Identified Openly sourced: the speaker is who they say they are
- Source
- Wikimedia Commons, retrieved October 2, 2026
- Rights
- CC0 1.0 (Commons file page; photograph by Ricercastorica, 2025)
Ricercastorica, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.
Text on the object
IL POPOLO ITALIANO HA CREATO COL SUO SANGUE L'IMPERO LO FECONDERÀ COL SUO LAVORO E LO DIFENDERÀ CONTRO CHIUNQUE CON LE SUE ARMI. MUSSOLINI [date line, partly worn:] X MAGGIO MCMXXXVI XIV
THE ITALIAN PEOPLE HAVE CREATED THE EMPIRE WITH THEIR BLOOD THEY WILL MAKE IT FRUITFUL WITH THEIR LABOUR AND WILL DEFEND IT AGAINST ANYONE WITH THEIR ARMS. MUSSOLINI [date line, partly worn:] X MAY 1936 XIV
The accent on FECONDERÀ and the first characters of the date line are not carved or are worn; the day numeral is read as X and may be mistaken. Roman numeral XIV is the year of the Fascist era.
