That’s the latest word from The Associated Press in Rome, where the City Council has ordered a 50-euro fine for the offense of snacking near the Eternal City’s monuments. So forget about wandering over to the Trevi Fountain with that drippy cup of gelato. That pleasure is now outside the law.Thumbs down, I say.

Paul Moses is the author, most recently, of The Italian Squad: The True Story of the Immigrant Cops Who Fought the Rise of the Mafia (NYU Press, 2023). He is a Commonweal contributing writer. Bluesky: @PaulBMoses.bsky.social

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