The eye of the cat

When walking towards the Collegio Romano, at a stone throw from Piazza Venezia, you might find yourself in a little, secluded street called via della Gatta, that snakes in sweet darkness on the borders of the Palazzo Grazioli (where no other than Silvio Berlusconi lives, when in the Capital…), well anyway, after a glance at the magnificent palazzo (that is still owned by the Roman noble family that gave it its patrician name, being Berlusconi only the one who is renting it), do keep your eyes sharp to catch a glimpse of the marble cat walking on the moulding. Its magical stare brings us back to the Egyptian times, for it does come from the enormous temple of Isis that once stood in the neighborhood. Isis, the Goddes of Earth, with Horus on her lap, was worshipped in Rome at the times of Caesar when Cleopatra arrived in the City of the Caesars, in golden chains…

No more Egypt now, but look at the greatness of the Collegio Romano, that was the University of the Gesuits (Pope Francis being a Gesuit, actually the first Gesuit ever to be Pope…). The University is now a school where someone dear to me attends his “Liceo”. The Gesuits have a new University in piazza della Pilotta (Università Gregoriana), as big as imperial as ever.

And now, before I forget, let me tell you a little Roman, traditional tale on the Gesuits that has something to do with, yes, with… the wind. I Will tell it, as Tacitus, the great Roman historian, would have done, that is to say: sine ira et studio. And now, the story. You must know that in front of the Gesù, which is the Gesuit’s most important church in Rome, on piazza del Gesù, the wind, being summer or winter, swirls and sweeps all day long. Well the story goes – and it was ever so popular in the 19^th century - like this: the devil once upon a time said to the wind: “Wait for me, I must go into the Gesù for a certain little bargain”. Off he went and the wind is still waiting for him to come out…