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34-606: Within the borders of Rosarno is the site of the ancient city of Medma . Present day Rosarno appeared during the Byzantine Era , mentioned for the first time in a document in 1037. Ownership of Rosarno was greatly contested, due to its strategic importance in giving a hold over of the fertile Mesima valley and was controlled by various feudal lords, including the Ruffo and the Pignatelli families. An earthquake in 1783 completely destroyed

68-476: A port or emporium on the seashore. The name of Mesima is still borne by a river which flows into the sea a little below Nicotera , in the neighbourhood. Nicotera, the name of which is already found in the Antonine Itinerary , probably arose after the decline of Mesma. A pair of terracotta altars from Medma with the myth of Aphrodite and Adonis dating back to the 4th century BC was probably stolen in

102-478: A report by the prefect of Palermo Filippo Antonio Gualterio  [ it ] . The term Mafia was never officially used by Sicilian mafiosi, who prefer to refer to their organization as " Cosa Nostra ". Nevertheless, it is typically by comparison to the groups and families that comprise the Sicilian Mafia that other criminal groups are given the label. Giovanni Falcone , an anti-Mafia judge murdered by

136-623: A strong similarity to the original Mafia in Sicily , to the Italian-American Mafia , or to other organized crime groups from Italy . The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of disputes between criminals, as well as the organization and enforcement of illicit agreements between criminals through the use of threat or violence. Mafias often engage in secondary activities such as gambling , loan sharking , drug-trafficking , prostitution , and fraud . The term Mafia

170-575: Is a hotbed of the 'Ndrangheta , a Mafia -type criminal organisation based in Calabria. The local 'Ndrangheta dominates the fruit and vegetable businesses in the area, according to Francesco Forgione , a former head of Italy's parliamentary Antimafia Commission . Several powerful criminal clans originate from the town, such as the Bellocco , Pesce and Ascone 'ndrine . In October 2008 the mayor of Rosarno, Carlo Martelli from Berlusconi 's Forza Italia party,

204-579: Is repeatedly noticed among the Greek cities in this part of Italy, it does not appear ever to have attained to any great power or importance. It is probable, however, that the Medimnaeans ( Μεδιμναῖοι ), who are noticed by Diodorus as contributing a body of colonists to the repeopling of Messana (modern Messina ) by Dionysius in 396 BCE, are no other than the Medmaeans, and that we should read Μεδμαῖοι in

238-443: Is to ask the local mafioso to oversee the transaction, in exchange for a fee proportional to the value of the transaction but below the legal tax. If the butcher cheats the grocer by selling rotten meat, the mafioso will punish the butcher. If the grocer cheats the butcher by not paying on time and in full, the mafioso will punish the grocer. Punishment might take the form of a violent assault or vandalism against property. The grocer and

272-547: The Sicilian adjective mafiusu , which, roughly translated, means 'swagger', but can also be translated as 'boldness' or ' bravado '. In reference to a man, mafiusu ( mafioso in Italian) in 19th century Sicily signified 'fearless', 'enterprising', and 'proud', according to scholar Diego Gambetta . In reference to a woman, however, the feminine-form adjective mafiusa means 'beautiful' or 'attractive'. Because Sicily

306-637: The "Japanese Mafia" calls itself "Ninkyō dantai", but is more commonly known as " Yakuza " by the public; "Russian Mafia" groups often call themselves " bratva "). "Chinese Mafia" groups are often referred to as Triads . When used alone and without any qualifier, "Mafia" or "the Mafia" typically refers to either the Sicilian Mafia or the Italian-American Mafia and sometimes Italian organized crime in general (e.g., Camorra , 'Ndrangheta , etc.). Today

340-679: The 'Ndrangheta, originating in the southern Italian region of Calabria , is widely considered the richest and most powerful Mafia in the world. The 'Ndrangheta has been around for as long as the better-known Sicilian Cosa Nostra, but was only recently designated as a Mafia-type association in 2010, under Article 416 bis of the Italian penal code. Italy's highest court of last resort, the Supreme Court of Cassation , had ruled similarly on 30 March 2010. The word Mafia ( English: / ˈ m ɑː f i ə / ; Italian: [ˈmaːfja] ) derives from

374-563: The Mafia's function in the Sicilian economy. Suppose a grocer wants to buy meat from a butcher without paying sales tax to the government. Because this is a black market deal, neither party can take the other to court if the other cheats. The grocer is afraid that the butcher will sell him rotten meat. The butcher is afraid that the grocer will not pay him. If the butcher and the grocer cannot get over their mistrust and refuse to trade, they would both miss out on an opportunity for profit. Their solution

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408-480: The Sicilian Mafia in 1992, objected to the conflation of the term Mafia with organized crime in general: While there was a time when people were reluctant to pronounce the word "Mafia" ... nowadays people have gone so far in the opposite direction that it has become an overused term ... I am no longer willing to accept the habit of speaking of the Mafia in descriptive and all-inclusive terms that make it possible to stack up phenomena that are indeed related to

442-512: The butcher both fear the mafioso, so each honors their side of the bargain. All three parties profit. Introduced by Pio La Torre , article 416-bis of the Italian Penal Code defines a Mafia-type association (Italian: associazione di tipo mafioso ) as one where "those belonging to the association exploit the potential for intimidation which their membership gives them, and the compliance and omertà which membership entails and which lead to

476-437: The early 20th century and is now exhibited at the J. Paul Getty Museum of Los Angeles. This article about an Ancient Greek colony, settlement, or region is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Calabrian location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Mafia " Mafia ", as an informal or general term, is often used to describe criminal organizations that bear

510-512: The field of organized crime but that have little or nothing in common with the Mafia. Scholars such as Diego Gambetta and Leopoldo Franchetti have characterized the Sicilian Mafia as a cartel of private protection firms whose primary business is protection racketeering : they use their fearsome reputation for violence to deter people from swindling, robbing, or competing with those who pay them for protection. For many businessmen in Sicily, they provide an essential service when they cannot rely on

544-427: The fields. The level of immigration has led to tensions between local inhabitants and the immigrants. In December 2008, a gunman entered a dilapidated factory where over a hundred farm workers were sleeping and shot two of them, seriously injuring a 21-year-old migrant from Côte d'Ivoire . The migrant workers took to the streets peacefully, marching through Rosarno to deliver a request to the prefectoral commissioner at

578-422: The locals arrested for the attacks was Antonio Bellocco, related to members of the feared Bellocco clan , which controls the area in which the fruit farms are situated. He was arrested and received another arrest warrant due to a police operation against the 'Ndrangheta clan on January 12, 2010. The operation was unrelated to the unrest, but the result of an ongoing investigation against the organization. Rosarno

612-468: The main street in the hope of being picked for a day job. In 2006 it was estimated that about 5,000 illegal immigrants lived in the Rosarno region. Many live in squalid conditions in abandoned factories with no running water. Médecins sans Frontières runs free clinics for undocumented migrants in Rosarno and other parts of Calabria. For a 12-hour work day they get paid € 20 and have to pay € 5 for transport to

646-577: The number of injured stood at 53, comprising 18 police, 14 local people and 21 immigrants, eight of whom were in hospital. Attacks against the migrant workers included setting up a roadblock and hunting down stray Africans in the streets of Rosarno. Some of the crop-pickers were shot; others beaten with metal bars or wooden clubs. All African migrant workers were moved out of town by police, while local inhabitants cheered and applauded their departure. They were loaded onto buses destined for immigrant holding centres elsewhere in Calabria, Naples and Bari . Among

680-587: The old feudal castle are preserved, along with a 16th-century coastal tower, the clock tower, the beautiful church of St. John the Baptist, the small church of the Crucifix, and various noblemen's homes, many of which have magnificent marble doorways from the last century. Rosarno is largely agricultural, with citrus and olive groves and juice and candied peel factories. Much of the work is done by illegal immigrants from Africa and Eastern Europe, who gather every morning in

714-565: The parish priest of Rosarno, said the situation of the immigrants reminded him of the circles of hell in Dante's Divine Comedy : "These people live in inhuman and desperate conditions." A spokesman for the International Organization for Migration called the unrest "among the worst of its kind in recent Italian history." Any black person who is hiding in Rosarno should get out. If we catch you, we will kill you. After two days of violence

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748-508: The passage in question. Though never a very conspicuous place, Medma seems to have survived the fall of many other more important cities of Magna Graecia, and it is noticed as a still existing town both by Strabo and Pliny the Elder . But the name is not found in Ptolemy , and all subsequent trace of it disappears. It appears from Strabo that the town itself was situated a little inland, and that it had

782-475: The play. The play is about a Palermo prison gang with traits similar to the Mafia: a boss, an initiation ritual, and talk of umirtà ( omertà or code of silence) and pizzu (a codeword for extortion money). The play had great success throughout Italy. Soon after, the use of the term Mafia began appearing in the Italian state's early reports on the phenomenon. The word made its first official appearance in 1865 in

816-499: The police and judiciary to enforce their contracts and protect their properties from thieves (this is often because they are engaged in black market deals). The [Sicilian] Mafia's principal activities are settling disputes among other criminals, protecting them against each other's cheating, and organizing and overseeing illicit agreements, often involving many agents, such as illicit cartel agreements in otherwise legal industries. Scholars have observed that many other societies around

850-411: The term krysha . With the [Russian] state in collapse and the security forces overwhelmed and unable to police contract law, ... cooperating with the criminal culture was the only option. ... most businessmen had to find themselves a reliable krysha under the leadership of an effective vor . In his analysis of the Sicilian Mafia, Gambetta provided the following hypothetical scenario to illustrate

884-442: The town hall for more humane treatment. In January 2010, after an attack on immigrant farm workers by local youths, rioting broke out. Youths in a car used air rifles to shoot and hurt several immigrants returning from working on the farms. The migrants clashed with police after taking to the streets. Cars were burned and shop windows smashed. Some 2,000 immigrants, most of them from Ghana and Burkina Faso , demonstrated in front of

918-470: The town hall shouting "We are not animals" and carried signs saying "Italians here are racist". Several of the protesters were arrested and locals and immigrants were injured in clashes between the two groups and riot police. After the attacks, the Italian interior minister , Roberto Maroni , a member of the anti-immigrant Northern League party, said the tensions were a result of "too much tolerance towards clandestine immigration ". Father Carmelo Ascone,

952-403: The town. In the plain surrounding Rosarno, the tremors caused huge landslides which blocked the course of rivers; the resulting marshes led to a malaria epidemic that killed more people than the earthquake itself. The town was quickly rebuilt and became a borough in 1816. The town plan is typified by large squares and straight, wide streets that cross each other perpendicularly. The remains of

986-518: The world have criminal organizations of their own that provide the same sort of protection service. For instance, in Russia, after the collapse of communism, the state security system had all but collapsed, forcing businessmen to hire criminal gangs to enforce their contracts and protect their properties from thieves. These gangs are popularly called "the Russian Mafia" by foreigners, but they prefer to go by

1020-569: Was an ancient Greek city of Magna Graecia , on the west coast of the Bruttian (now Calabrian) peninsula, between Hipponium and the mouth of the Metaurus (probably today's River Petrace). The site is located at Rosarno , Province of Reggio Calabria , Calabria. It was a colony founded by the Epizephyrian Locrians , and is said to have derived its name from an adjoining fountain. But though it

1054-513: Was arrested for having links to organised crime and of having illegally favoured businesses linked to the Piromalli family , one of the 'Ndrangheta's most powerful clans, from the nearby town of Gioia Tauro . The former mayor was completely cleared of all charges in July 2009 after a year of legal battles with the 466/09 Corte d'Appello di Reggio Calabria decision. In December 2008, the entire town council

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1088-424: Was dissolved on orders from the central government and replaced by a prefectoral commissioner because it had been infiltrated by 'Ndrangheta members and their known associates. Medma Medma or Mesma ( Greek : Μέδμη , Steph. B. ; Μέδμα , Strabo , Scymn. Ch.; but Μέσμα on coins, and so Apollodorus of Damascus , cited by Steph. B.; Scylax has Μέσα , evidently a corruption for Μέσμα ),

1122-508: Was once an Islamic emirate from 831 to 1072, Mafia may have come to Sicilian through Arabic , although the word's origins are uncertain. Possible Arabic roots of the word include: The public's association of the word with the criminal secret society was perhaps inspired by the 1863 play I mafiusi di la Vicaria ('The Mafiosi of the Vicaria') by Giuseppe Rizzotto and Gaspare Mosca. The words Mafia and mafiusi are never mentioned in

1156-475: Was originally applied to the Sicilian Mafia . Since then, the term has expanded to encompass other organizations of similar methods and purpose, e.g. "the Russian Mafia" or "the Japanese Mafia". The term was coined by the press and is informal; the criminal organizations themselves have their own names (e.g. the Sicilian Mafia and the related Italian-American Mafia refer to their organizations as "Cosa Nostra";

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