Mussolini: Son Of — The Century Series

Outside, a group of children—future Balilla —are playing war with sticks. One of them, no older than six, raises a wooden rifle and shouts: “Duce! Duce!”

The fog is a wet shroud over the cobblestones. Benito Mussolini, 35, stands alone before a locked wooden door. He wears a black shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, a French army helmet from the 12th Bersaglieri regiment, and a face that has not slept in three days. mussolini: son of the century series

“You don’t need a party,” she says. “You need a myth. The socialists have the red flag. The church has the cross. You need a corpse .” Outside, a group of children—future Balilla —are playing

That night, the squadristi force-feed the socialist mayor castor oil, strip him naked, and march him through the village. The peasants watch in silence. Then a child laughs. Then an old woman spits on the mayor’s back. Benito Mussolini, 35, stands alone before a locked

In the spring of 1919, a disillusioned former socialist editor and WWI veteran, Benito Mussolini, discovers that his true weapon is not the rifle he carried in the trenches, but the wound he cannot heal—and the rage he can weaponize into a new creed. SCENE 1: THE PIAZZA OF SHATTERED GLASS