Vergil in Ethiopia? Nello Martinelli’s Amba Alagia
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Bettina Reitz-Joosse
Abstract
This chapter explores the Amba Alagia, a Latin hexameter poem written in 1941 by Nello Martinelli in response to Italy’s colonial campaigns in Ethiopia. Set against the historical backdrop of the battles at the Amba Alagi, the poem glorifies Italian military heroism while embedding imperialist, racist, and antisemitic ideologies. Through extensive intertextual engagement with Vergil’s Aeneid and Georgics, Martinelli recasts violent colonial conquest as a moral and civilizing mission. The chapter examines how Amba Alagia manipulates classical references to portray Fascist aggression as historical destiny and moral vindication. It also interrogates the implications of attributing poetic complexity to ideologically problematic texts. By analyzing Martinelli’s literary strategies, the chapter encourages critical reflection on scholarly habits of interpretation and the uncomfortable intersections between classical literature and fascist propaganda.
Content Warning: this chapter cites and analyses Latin texts which espouse imperialist, racist, and anti-semitic ideology and express support for racially motivated violence.
Abstract
This chapter explores the Amba Alagia, a Latin hexameter poem written in 1941 by Nello Martinelli in response to Italy’s colonial campaigns in Ethiopia. Set against the historical backdrop of the battles at the Amba Alagi, the poem glorifies Italian military heroism while embedding imperialist, racist, and antisemitic ideologies. Through extensive intertextual engagement with Vergil’s Aeneid and Georgics, Martinelli recasts violent colonial conquest as a moral and civilizing mission. The chapter examines how Amba Alagia manipulates classical references to portray Fascist aggression as historical destiny and moral vindication. It also interrogates the implications of attributing poetic complexity to ideologically problematic texts. By analyzing Martinelli’s literary strategies, the chapter encourages critical reflection on scholarly habits of interpretation and the uncomfortable intersections between classical literature and fascist propaganda.
Content Warning: this chapter cites and analyses Latin texts which espouse imperialist, racist, and anti-semitic ideology and express support for racially motivated violence.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Stephen Harrison’s Major Publications (June 2025) 13
- L. Manlius Torquatus’ in Sullam 27
- Catullus in the Ancient Greek Novels (with a Focus on Chariton) 43
- A Queer Catullus for the 2010s and 2020s? 75
- Swearing like a Philosopher on Trial: Catullus, Epicurus, and Beards in Apuleius’ Apologia 113
- Apuleius and the Greek Novel: Generic Infringement 135
- Philosophical Enrichment: Akrasia in Vergil 167
- Pallas, Son of Hercules 191
- Vergil in Ethiopia? Nello Martinelli’s Amba Alagia 207
- How the Winds Blow: Inherited Anemologies in Valerius Flaccus’s Argonautica 235
- The Gnat’s Descent: Intertextuality and Poetic Memory in the Pseudo-Vergilian Culex 261
- Vergilian Roleplay in The Rape of the Lock 283
- Back to the Future: (Spatio)temporal Enrichment in Horace’s Odes 3.3 and 3.27 307
- List of Contributors 327
- Index Rerum et Nominum
- Index Locorum
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Contents V
- Introduction 1
- Stephen Harrison’s Major Publications (June 2025) 13
- L. Manlius Torquatus’ in Sullam 27
- Catullus in the Ancient Greek Novels (with a Focus on Chariton) 43
- A Queer Catullus for the 2010s and 2020s? 75
- Swearing like a Philosopher on Trial: Catullus, Epicurus, and Beards in Apuleius’ Apologia 113
- Apuleius and the Greek Novel: Generic Infringement 135
- Philosophical Enrichment: Akrasia in Vergil 167
- Pallas, Son of Hercules 191
- Vergil in Ethiopia? Nello Martinelli’s Amba Alagia 207
- How the Winds Blow: Inherited Anemologies in Valerius Flaccus’s Argonautica 235
- The Gnat’s Descent: Intertextuality and Poetic Memory in the Pseudo-Vergilian Culex 261
- Vergilian Roleplay in The Rape of the Lock 283
- Back to the Future: (Spatio)temporal Enrichment in Horace’s Odes 3.3 and 3.27 307
- List of Contributors 327
- Index Rerum et Nominum
- Index Locorum
