Carabinieri Pomp and Pagentry by icunme
On June 1st, we had just left the house and turned the corner onto Via Veneto and I stopped in my tracks - this group of Caribinieri in full formal dress, all mounted on white horses was passing by us heading South on Via Veneto. I was told they were celebrating an anniversary of some particular event - I'm still trying to find out the significance of June 1st in the Carabinieri Corps.
Italy has both a local police force (Polizia) and the National Carabinieri.
The new Corps, created to perform both military and civil functions, was called the Carabinieri not only to avoid any comparison with the former napoleonic "Gendarmerie" but mainly because, like all elite units of those years, it was equipped with carbines.
The Carabinieri Corps was created on July 13, 1814, by resolution of Vittorio Emanuele I which established a Corps, known as Carabinieri Reali, of mounted or foot soldiers rigorously selected "... for their distinguished good conduct and judiciouness" whose task was "to contribute to the necessary happiness of the State, which cannot be separated from protection and defense of all good subjects."
These particularly sensitive functions, specified in the Regie Patenti (Royal Licenses), the official document comprising the aforementioned resolution, underlined the importance attributed to the personal skills required of the selected soldiers, as well as their dual military and civil task. From the very beginning, the Carabinieri demonstrated a heartfelt sense of duty, honor and top level conduct, and quickly gained people's respect and devotion.