Citizen pacifist spectators at the 2 June parade

Corrado, 6 years old, landed in Rome with his family from Naples, to see the weapons he, he assures, has many and is prepared for anything, even the most extreme scenarios. "I am not afraid of war, I am ready for the Zombie Apocalypse, I have plenty of guns at home," he says with dreamy eyes that are not at all belligerent. A self-disclosure that worries his father Luigi, almost inclined to ask for DNA proof, who specifies 'they are toy guns, of course', he pacifist, arrived in Rome just to please his son, who is sure of him and, perhaps, of video games.

Filippo, Danilo and Alessandro, 22 and 24 years old, all economics students, are a trio, strongly in favour of rearmament. "We are convinced that it is necessary to investmore money in armaments, weneed weapons not words, to defend ourselves in this time of winds of war," they say. "It is fine to look to Europe, but we must be ready for an individual defence, interests do not always coincide and we could find ourselves alone.

Instead, the words of Mario Draghi, Filippo, curly-haired redhead, and Pietro,  mirrored glasses and very short haircut, both 22 years old: 'We study political science in Berlin,' says Filippo, 'I agreed with Draghi when he warned that "for the first time we are alone together". I lived for a couple of years in the people's quarters of the former GDR, I think the risk comes from the East, Europe must march together. In Germany the sense of danger is felt much more than in Italia'. On the same wavelength is fellow student Pietro, who thinks it is appropriate to arm ourselves, but rationalising spending. 'We should not spend more money on armaments,' he argues, 'but spend better. It is useless to have 28 tank models, we should have a standard'.

Rita class of 1946, a science journalist, who lives in the area, came down to celebrate her "coetaneous" Repubblica. "I was born with the Republic, I believe its 80th birthday should serve to make us reflect on the value of peace - she warns - when you start a conflict you don't know how it will end: the only way tokeep the peace is to never start a war. I do not like,' he concludes, 'these muscular displays, these machismo parades'.  

Luciano is 67 years old, works as a plumber and was in the square on an urgent call in the area, he cares zero about the parade and even less about love of country. He is just in a bad mood about the reduced traffic and being forced to work on a holiday. "As long as there's war, there's hope as that one used to say,' where 'that one' is Alberto Sordi and not quoting him is serious for a true Roman. 'Those who govern us,' he says, 'only think about spending on weapons, while people struggle to make ends meet. We already have hunger, we don't need war. 80 years of the Republic? It seems to me that it's getting worse and worse.