Good Morning Rome

A short story by the Italian author Michele Ponte, Good Morning Rome will surprise you. They come to Rome by plane, boat, train, coach. They hitchhike or they come on foot. They come looking for success, hope, or God. They come for art, for Roman antiquity, for museums, exhibitions, History. They come to Rome because it’s the Eternal City. They come looking for work. They come so they can study and then find work. They come. ‘And it’s a good thing they do come,’ says the Ancient Roman soldier standing outside the Coliseum. ‘Please! Just think about it, will you? If these people didn’t come, how would anyone ever find the dough to keep this city afloat?’ This is one guy who really does get it, one of the few guys of his age who gets it. Without all these people coming and churning the money around, we’d have nothing. Not a damn thing. Crumbling walls is all. They come to Rome to get close to power. They come to Rome to feel they’re artists. They come to gamble or to deal drugs. But the main thing – you may as well admit it – is that they come. All of them.