318 THE RISE OF ITALIAN FASCISM
ella. c When he learnt,5 relates a representative of the
Stampa, who was travelling with him, ' that these men,
about 3000 in number, had neither tents nor lodging, he
ordered that they should be moved to Civitavecchia so that
they could have food and shelter.3 The marquis Perrone
was busy holding a review of his militia in honour of general
Ceccherini, c one of the very gallant generals, as he says in
his Journal, beloved by the army, whom Mussolini wanted
to accompany the fascist troops in uniform, so as to avoid,
as far as possible, any clash with the troops.'
A superfluous precaution, for Mussolini arrived in Rome
before the fascist columns, and they did not begin their
march until he gave them their orders, after becoming head
of the government. The Perrone column received the order
on the evening of the 30th and arranged to depart the next
morning, after instructions had been given for billeting the
legionaries in schools in Rome. On the morning of the
3oth two trains took the Igliori columns from Monterotondo
to the bridge of the Via Salaria. It was pouring with rain.
Igliori ought to have waited there for orders, but, as he
himself put it, e there was not a single house in the neigh-
bourhood to shelter our men, who were soaked to the skin
and had eaten nothing since the day before'. He was
e extremely worried at having to keep a column in such bad
conditions at the gates of Rome', and so he went off to
find shelter in the outskirts. The column arrived near the
city towards midday and put up in the railwaymen's garden
city near Villa Savoia. Chiurco, who was in command of
the Siena legion, has preserved the telegram he sent his
friends as soon as he could get out of the deluge which had
driven them all into the city : c Fascist command, Siena.
Arrived victoriously among the first, machine guns to the
fore; all goes well.3 The other column commander,
General Fara, had gone ahead in his motor car to within
a hundred yards of the garden city, * The general was
nearing the bridge when a cavalry colonel presented himself
and informed him that the order had been given to remove
all troops defending the bridges. On behalf of the army
corps commander the colonel placed himself entirely at
General Fara's disposal, and announced that His Excellency