Obliged to depart on a luxury sleeper, Mussolini compared the comfy nine-hour ride to CaesarвЂ™s crossing the Rubicon.ДЄt the stroke of eleven, ItalyвЂ™s new prime minister presented himself to the king in a shabby morning coat, borrowed spats, and a Fascist black shirt. This humiliation strengthened his resolve to make the railroads run on time. Much to his chagrin, he could not even catch an early train. Mussolini had intended to travel by plane and scatter leaflets and confetti in his wake. The pie arrived the next day, with all the toppings. Recording the event in his calendar, the king wrote: вЂњ I order Mussolini.вЂќ As if the Duce was nothing more than a pizza. He telegrammed Mussolini and asked him to form a new cabinet. On Sunday morning, October 29, the king bowed to political and domestic pressure. Occupying the state room like an overstuffed divan, the dowager queen called Mussolini вЂњthe greatest condottiero since Bartolomeo Colleoni.вЂќ He also dreaded his mother, Margherita of Savoy. The king detested the Fascists but dreaded the Communists, who wished to abolish the monarchy. Nevertheless, Victor Emmanuel III refused to declare martial law. Lacking food and ammunition, this sodden and demoralized crew was no match against the army. The marchers, some 26,000 men, seized telephone exchanges, telegraph offices, town halls, and prefectures in Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna. He would remain behind in Milan, a short drive to the Swiss border, while his henchmen slogged to the capital through heavy rain. вЂњWeвЂ™re going,вЂќ Italo Balbo declared on Tuesday evening, October 24, вЂњeither with you or without you! Make up your mind!вЂќ Mussolini pursed his lips, jutted his chin, and folded his arms across his chest. This waffling exasperated his second-in-command. Even as he egged on followers to march on Rome, Mussolini negotiated with officials and planned his escape to Zurich. Safe in his headquarters, he wrote incendiary articles, abused bespectacled parliamentarians, challenged enemies to duels, and forecast a national bloodbath, but he never once participated in a street brawl. Nobody could control the squadristi, not even Mussolini, who watched events unfold in Milan. On Fridays, more devout hooligans beat their victims around the head with baccalГ .

Instead, daggers, truncheons, and clubs intimidated and injured opponents. The guns rarely were loaded, though, and the grenades almost always were duds. Waving banners with the skull and crossbones, the squadristi wore black shirts and military insignias and carried pistols, rifles, and grenades.

Called the Voluntary Militia for National Security, these boy vigilantes ruled the streets. After a general strike had touched off riots, thousands of students joined the squadristi: the paramilitary squads of the rising Fascist Party. October, 1922 was one long WitchesвЂ™ Sabbath. These pranks are harmless enough, but the spectacle reminds me of a more sinister masquerade: Benito MussoliniвЂ™s March on Rome.

Teenaged zombies startle tourists in piazzas and frighten seniors in alleys. Halloween is becoming more popular in Italy than Carnival, thanks to American TV.

Victory march to rome map