New Roman statutes

This item appears on page 4 of the January 2019 issue.

The city of Rome instituted new rules on Nov. 14 aimed at cleaning up the city. The rules include fines for swimming in fountains and eating in restricted areas. People caught swimming or otherwise defacing fountains may be banned from designated city zones and public transport for 48 hours, repeat offenders for up to 60 days.

Finable offenses include drinking in public after 10 p.m. as well as dressing like a centurion, then soliciting money from tourists. (Dressing like a centurion has technically been banned for years, but no fine had been set.) According to the Rome city council, fines may even be levied against people found to be "eating in a slovenly fashion."

Earlier in the year, Rome banned nocturnal outdoor drinking until March 2019, but it is now a permanent law. On public streets, alcoholic drinks cannot be consumed from glass containers after 10 p.m. or from any container after midnight.