{{Short description|Historic area in Italy}} {{About|the region in Italy|asteroid|21799 Ciociaria}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2026}} thumb|400px|Map of "Grande Ciociaria" with 1889 cities indicated [[File:Enrique Simonet - Ciociara - 1889.jpg|right|thumb|250px|''Ciociara'' by Enrique Simonet]]
'''Ciociaria''' ({{IPA|it|tʃotʃaˈriːa}}) is the name commonly used, in modern times, for some impoverished territories southeast of Rome, without defined geographical limits.<ref>Roberto Almagià, ''Enciclopedia italiana'', vol. X, Roma 1931</ref><ref>Alonzi L., ''Il concetto di Ciociaria dalla costutuzione della provincia di Frosinone a oggi'' («L'Italia ritagliata. L'identità storico-culturale delle regioni: il caso del Lazio meridionale ed orientale», Società Geografica Italiana, Roma 1997)</ref><ref>see: F. Riccardi, Quid est Ciociaria? 'Regnicoli' contro 'Papalini', in Studi Cassinati; E. Pistilli, E se fosse solo un'invenzione letteraria?, in Studi Cassinati</ref><ref>{{Cite news |title=A lament for La Ciociaria, a cradle of civilization south of Rome |newspaper=Corriere Canadese |url=https://www.corriere.ca/special-reports/a-lament-for-la-ciociaria-a-cradle-of-civilization-south-of-rome/ |date= December 31, 2019 |location=Toronto|access-date=2022-08-15 |language=en}}</ref> Starting from the Fascist Italy period and the creation of the province of Frosinone, the same name was arbitrarily imposed by the local Italian fascist organizations,<ref>See: Squadrismo. 20 ottobre XVIII. Ventennale del Fascio di Frosinone, Federazione ciociara del P.N.F.</ref> and then misused by the local press, by promotional associations and folkloristic events as a synonym for Frosinone and all the popular traditions of its territory.<ref>Alonzi L., ''Il concetto di Ciociaria dalla costutuzione della provincia di Frosinone a oggi'' («L'Italia ritagliata. L'identità storico-culturale delle regioni: il caso del Lazio meridionale ed orientale», Società Geografica Italiana, Roma 1997)</ref><ref>see: F. Riccardi, Quid est Ciociaria? 'Regnicoli' contro 'Papalini', in Studi Cassinati; E. Pistilli, E se fosse solo un'invenzione letteraria?, in Studi Cassinati</ref>
The local dialect is referred to as ''campanino'' in old literature.<ref>Anonimo romano, ''Cronica'' [Vita di Cola di Rienzo]</ref> It is merely a local variants of Central-Italian Latian but is improperly indicated as "ciociaro dialect", although the linguistic and scientific definition is Central-Northern Latian.<ref>Pellegrini G., ''Carta dei dialetti d'Italia'', CNR - Pacini ed., Pisa, 1977</ref> In more recent times, the term ''Campagna Romana'', or Roman Campagna, a favorite subject of countless painters from all over Europe, referred to the adjoining region to the north of ''Ciociaria'' but part of the province of Rome.
==Origin of the name== [[File:Shepherd boy in ciocie (c.1883) - Antonio Mancini.jpg|thumb|Shepherd boy wearing ''ciocie'']] The term first appears in a map of the Papal States, in which a land in ''Campagna e Marittima'' province is named ''Ciociarìa''.<ref>Beranger E. M. & Sigismondi F., ''Il ducato di Alvito nell'Età dei Gallio'' (Atti), Banca della Ciociaria, Alvito 1997, p. 37</ref> The variant ''Cioceria'' has been used since the 18th century.<ref>Scotoni L., ''Un nome territoriale recente: la Ciociaria (Lazio)'', in ''La geografia delle scuole'', XXII (1977), n. 4., pp. 199-207</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?q=Cioceria&btnG=Cerca+nei+libri The term "Cioceria" as found in books.google.com] Accessed 9 December 2017</ref> The name comes from the derogatory term, in Roman dialect applied to some poor shepherds because of their footwear, called in Roman dialect ''ciocie''. These shoes, which were widespread among the poorest shepherds of much of Southern and Southeast Europe, were subsequently used in the province of Frosinone only by folklore groups and for touristic initiatives.
== Geography and historical names == Until the Fascist era, there were no official publications that imposed the term on the territories of the current province of Frosinone, the term, however rare, was used during the nineteenth century in a rather varied way with respect to geographical areas. In 1861, Franco Mistrali applied the term for example to the brigands of Sabina and not of Lazio.<ref>F. Mistrali, Ritratti popolari, Milano, 1861</ref> The correct geographic term for the northern area of the province of Frosinone is Valle del Sacco (or Middle Valle Latina (Latin Valley)). The area inhabited by the Hernici was known in Latin as ''ager Hernicus''.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Strabo |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8GIxAQAAMAAJ&dq=%22agro+hernico%22&pg=PA363 |title=Strabonis Rerum Geographicarum Libri XVII. |date=1707 |language=la}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Dionysius (Halicarnassensis.) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u2s-AAAAcAAJ&dq=%22agro+hernico%22&pg=PA597 |title=Scripta quae extant omnia, historica et rhetorica |date=1615 |publisher=Aubrius |language=la}}</ref><ref>[https://www.google.com/search?safe=active&tbm=bks&q=%22agro+hernico%22 google books]</ref>
== Literature and clichés == Except for the fascist propaganda of the time, most scholars believe that the toponym Ciociaria was originally widespread only in Roman popular culture and among the intellectuals who disseminated its traditions, and therefore insignificant outside the borders of the Papal State: the term does not appear in any document of the Kingdom of Naples or the Two Sicilies to indicate the Liri Valley or the territory of Fondi, nor is the adjective ciociaro used to designate a population or a culture in the Neapolitan state. From the second post-war period, the realist and neorealist literary ''topos'', the search for a common Christian Democratic political identity in southern Lazio<ref>The first work in which the entire province of Frosinone is defined as "Ciociarìa" is conventionally identified in a book edited by the Provincial Administration of Frosinone, published on the occasion of the thirtieth anniversary of the establishment of the province in 1957. The first, however, to connote as Ciociaria the borders of 1927 were instead the fascists: they adopted for the first time expressions as centers of Ciociaria for the municipalities of the province and Ciociara fascism for their political initiative. See: ''Squadrismo''. 20 ottobre XVIII. Ventennale del Fascio di Frosinone, Federazione ciociara del P.N.F.</ref> and in part the suppression of the ecclesiastical province of Capua with the annexation of the dioceses of Monte Cassino, Aquino and Atina to the Roman ecclesiastical province, were the cultural factors that favored, in the common opinion, the spread of that point of view according to which this undefined and non-geographic term to the south reaches the Garigliano (including according to some even the {{ill|Lazio coast|it|Litorale laziale}}).<ref>Libero de Libero in the poem ''Listen to Ciociaria'' mentions Circeo among the places in Ciociaria.</ref><ref>Isa Grassano, "I Viaggi di Repubblica", anno X, 24 maggio 2007.</ref>
==Folklore and handicraft== [[File:Lazio meridionale dialetti.jpg|thumb|Linguistic map of Southern Lazio: ''Central Italian'' in pink and ''Southern Italian'' (Neapolitan language) in magenta.|300px|left]] On the basis of the above, various local institutions periodically organize various folkloristic events that recall the aforementioned clichés with respect to the clothing, religious initiatives and traditions of the territories of the valle del Sacco, considering them as manifestations of a "''ciociaria'' tradition". These events include food fairs and music festivals, processions, performances of bands, palios and tournaments among the town's quarters. Even the local artisanal production, which has historical roots in the much older craftsmanship of Lazio, Campania and Abruzzo is often improperly associated by tourist organizations, promotional events or the press as part of this "''ciociara'' tradition".
Among the best known objects in the artisanal production of the areas south east of Rome that are arbitrarily associated to this recent term there are copper amphoras (called "conca"); wicker and "vinchio" (marshy grass that grows on the slopes of the Aurunci Mounts) woven in the shape of baskets; terracotta amphorae, called "cannate", terracotta jugs made in Aquino and Fiuggi; gold and coral jewellery produced in Alatri, Anagni, Fiuggi, Veroli; works in copper and wrought iron; embroideries, like the embroidered towels and tablecloths of Veroli and Boville Ernica and the religious vestments produced in Anagni.
==Rapes after the battle of Monte Cassino== {{Main|Marocchinate}} The day following the Battle of Monte Cassino, ''Goumiers'' rampaged through the surrounding countryside committing mass rape in Southern Lazio.<ref>[http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/massacres_axis.html George Duncan's "Massacres and Atrocities of World War II" at members.iinet.net.au] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303194232/http://members.iinet.net.au/~gduncan/massacres_axis.html |date=2016-03-03 }} Accessed 9 December 2017</ref> Victims of such crimes became known in Italy as ''{{Lang|it|marocchinate}}'', literally translatable as "Moroccaned". Alberto Moravia wrote the novel ''La ciociara'' on the event, which was made into a successful 1960 movie directed by Vittorio de Sica starring Sophia Loren and a 2015 opera by Marco Tutino.<ref>[https://www.opera-online.com/en/items/productions/two-women-la-ciociara-san-francisco-opera-2015-2015 Two Women (La Ciociara) - premiered at San Francisco Opera - Composer: Marco Tutino] Accessed 9 December 2017</ref> This further contributed to the spread of the term that is indeed often associated with these war crimes.
==See also== * Ciociaria in cinematography
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{external media | width = 250px | float = right | video1 = [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDe8D6h9Vkk “How an old Italian dialect compares to standard Italian”], February 28, 2018}} {{Commons-inline}} * [http://www.ciociariaturismo.it/ CiociariaTurismo], tourist organization *[https://nationalpost.com/news/canada/the-keepers-of-a-dying-dialect-italian-immigrants-in-sarnia-ont-still-speak-an-ancient-language Keepers of a dying dialect: Italian immigrants in Sarnia, Ontario, still speak an ancient language]
{{Lazio}} {{Authority control}}
Category:Ciociaria