Abstract

Though an administration that has often lagged behind with respect to innovations introduced into the government administration, the municipality of Rome was not entirely extraneous to the modernization of technologies, and in the case of telegraphy, it promoted sophisticated solutions. The delay was caused by difficulties in the municipality's relationship with the government and by the unsatisfactory legal framework that regulated centre-periphery relations. While the telegraphy network was distinguished by original design and acted as a significant force for modernization, albeit one hampered by the resistance of the government administration, as regards the introduction of telephones the commune seems to have adjusted to the already ongoing spread of an instrument whose usefulness was immediately apparent.