Mayor of Rome

The mayor of Rome (Italian: sindaco di Roma) is an elected politician who, along with the Rome City Council (Italian: Assemblea Capitolina) of 48 members, is accountable for the strategic government of Rome. As Rome is a comune speciale since 2009, the office is different from the offices of the other Italian cities. The title is the equivalent of Lord Mayor in the meaning of an actual executive leader.

Mayor of Rome
Sindaco di Roma
Incumbent Roberto Gualtieri since 21 October 2021
Seat	Palazzo Senatorio
Appointer	Electorate of Rome
Term length	5 years, renewable once
Inaugural holder	Francesco Rospigliosi Pallavicini
Formation	23 September 1870
Deputy	Silvia Scozzese
Salary	€10,000 monthly
Website

Overview

Current seat of the Mayor, Palazzo Senatorio on Capitoline Hill.

According to the City of Rome Statutes, the Mayor of Rome is a member of the Rome City Council (Italian: Assemblea Capitolina) ex-oficio as its overall head.

The Mayor is elected by the population of Rome. Citizens elect also the members of the City Council, which also controls the mayor's policy guidelines and is able to enforce the mayor's resignation by a motion of no confidence. The mayor is entitled to appoint and release the members of the Council, which are twelve (Italian: Assessori delle Giunta Capitolina) according to the Italian Constitution.

The seat of the City Council is the city hall Palazzo Senatorio on the Capitoline Hill.

History

When the City of Rome was founded, it was initially ruled by Kings. After the last King was overthrown, it would be ruled by Consuls who were elected by the Assembly of the Centuries. The Assembly of the Centuries was an extremely oligarchic voting system, with voters organized into blocks based on wealth, and each block having but one vote to elect the Consuls.

There were two Consuls at a time, known as the Consul Priori and the Consul Posteriori, and they served a 1-year term. Technically the Consul Priori was in charge of the city as well as the larger Roman Republic, and the Consul Posteriori was his second-in-command, but in practice both Consuls shared power except in times of national emergency. (Said emergencies would lead to either Senatus Consultum Ultimum, or failing that the true last resort was a Dictatorship, to be held by the Consul Priori.)

Roman Emperors were essentially Mayors of Rome ex officio, although the Consuls continued to exist in a largely ceremonial role. The Assembly of the Centuries was abolished, and the power to elect Consuls was transferred to the Senate alone. Once the Western Roman Empire ended, Consuls retook charge of the city, even as Kings once again ruled larger territories that included Rome. By this time there were no longer two Consuls in Rome, but one, the position of Consul Posteriori having been ceded to the younger Eastern Roman Empire.

In 534, a man named Decius Paulinus served as the very last Consul of Rome. (The last Consul was Byzantine Emperor Leo VI, but he did not rule from Rome.) The Senate survived as a city council of sorts, until it passed its final acts and voted to disband in 603. All the while, law and order were largely kept by various foreign occupiers (and their appointed city-governors).

In 756, the Donation of Pepin made Rome the capital of a newly formed Federation of the Papal States. After this, the city would be directly ruled by the same Popes who also ruled the much larger Papal States territory. During the final third or so of its existence, the Papal States also had a Governor of Rome, appointed by the Pope to rule the city in his name, allowing the Pope himself to focus on national and ecclesial matters.

Having been the capital of the Papal States, Rome did not receive its modern Mayor until 1870, when it became the capital of the Kingdom of Italy. The new Mayor served as a member of the city council, and he was appointed every three years by the King of Italy. Then since 1889 the Mayor was elected every four years by the City Council. However, the fascist dictatorship abolished mayors and City councils in 1926, replacing them with a single authoritarian Rector (Podestà) chosen by the National Fascist Party. The rector of Rome was called "Governatore" (Governor).

After World War II, the Mayor was chosen by the City Council. In 1993, the election of the Mayor was transferred from the City Council to direct election by the people. In 2001, the schedule of such elections was changed from every 4 years to every 5 years.

List of Mayors of Rome

Papal States (1558–1870)

From 1558 to 1870, the Papal States created the office of Governatore (Governor), also called Vice Camerlengo, chosen by the Pope.

• 1558–1560 – Virgilio Rosario
• 1560–1588 – Giacomo Savelli
• 1588–1603 – Girolamo Rusticucci
• 1603–1605 – Camillo Borghese (future Pope Paul V)
• 1605–1610 – Girolamo Pamphili
• 1610–1629 – Giovanni Garzia Millini
• 1629–1671 – Marzio Ginetti
• Acting 1671 – Paluzzo Paluzzi Altieri degli Albertoni
• 1671–1714 – Gaspare Carpegna
• 1714–1721 – Giovanni Domenico Paracciani
• 1721–1726 – Fabrizio Paolucci
• 1726–1732 – Prospero Marefoschi
• 1732–1759 – Giovanni Antonio Guadagni
• 1759–1762 – Antonio Maria Erba Odescalchi
• 1762–1793 – Marcantonio Colonna
• 1793–1795 – Andrea Corsini
• 1795–1810 – Giulio Maria della Somaglia
• 1810–1813 – Antonio Despuig y Dameto
• 1813–1820 – Lorenzo Litta
• 1820–1823 – Annibale Sermattei della Genga (future Pope Leo XII)
• Acting 1823–1824 – Giuseppe della Porta Rodiani
• 1824–1834 – Placido Zurla
• 1834–1838 – Carlo Odescalchi
• 1838–1841 – Giuseppe della Porta Rodiani
• 1841–1870 – Costantino Patrizi Naro

Kingdom of Italy (1870–1946)

From 1870, when Rome was annexed, the Kingdom of Italy created the office of the Mayor of Rome (Sindaco di Roma), chosen by the City council. In 1926, the Fascist dictatorship abolished mayors and City councils, replacing them with a single authoritarian Governatore (Governor) chosen by the National Fascist Party.

	Mayor	Term start	Term end	Party
–	Michelangelo Caetani[1]	23 September 1870	30 September 1870	Independent
–	Giuseppe Lunati[2]	29 November 1870	20 December 1870	Independent
–	Filippo Doria Pamphili[2]	21 December 1870	March 1871	Independent
–	Giovanni Angelini[2]	March 1871	16 April 1871	Independent
1	Francesco Rospigliosi Pallavicini	16 April 1871	21 October 1871	Independent
2	Luigi Pianciani	29 July 1873	5 August 1874	Left
3	Pietro Venturi	15 January 1875	7 November 1877	Left
4	Emanuele Ruspoli	18 July 1878	20 July 1880	Right
(2)	Luigi Pianciani	October 1881	May 1882	Left
5	Leopoldo Torlonia	May 1882	31 December 1887	Right
6	Alessandro Guiccioli	24 October 1888	28 November 1889	Left
7	Augusto Armellini	28 November 1889	20 June 1890	Left
8	Onorato Caetani	29 December 1890	14 November 1892	Right
(4)	Emanuele Ruspoli	14 November 1892	29 November 1899	Right
9	Prospero Colonna di Paliano	December 1899	October 1904	Right
10	Enrico Cruciani Alibrandi	10 July 1905	10 July 1907	Independent
11	Ernesto Nathan	25 November 1907	8 December 1913	Radical
(9)	Prospero Colonna di Paliano	6 July 1914	8 June 1919	Liberal
12	Adolfo Apolloni	8 June 1919	25 November 1920	Liberal
13	Luigi Rava	25 November 1920	23 May 1921	Liberal
14	Giannetto Valli	23 May 1921	26 June 1922	Liberal
15	Filippo Cremonesi	26 June 1922	1 January 1926	Independent
Fascist Governor (1926–1944)
1	Filippo Cremonesi	1 January 1926	9 December 1926	PNF
2	Ludovico Spada Veralli Potenziani	9 December 1926	13 September 1928	PNF
3	Francesco Boncompagni Ludovisi	13 September 1928	23 January 1935	PNF
4	Giuseppe Bottai	23 January 1935	15 November 1936	PNF
5	Piero Colonna	15 November 1936	30 August 1939	PNF
6	Giangiacomo Borghese	30 August 1939	21 August 1943	PNF
7	Giovanni Orgera	6 January 1944	10 June 1944	PFR
Allied occupation (1944–1946)
16	Filippo Andrea VI Doria Pamphili	10 June 1944	10 December 1946	Independent

Republic of Italy (1946–present)

City Council election (1946–1993)

From 1946 to 1993, the Mayor of Rome was chosen by the City Council.

	Mayor		Term start	Term end	Party	Coalition	Election
17		Salvatore Rebecchini (1891–1977)	10 December 1946	5 November 1947	DC	DC	1946
			5 November 1947	4 July 1952		DC  • PLI  • UQ	1947
			4 July 1952	2 July 1956		DC  • PLI  • PRI	1952
18		Umberto Tupini (1889–1973)	2 July 1956	10 January 1958	DC	Centrism (DC  • PLI  • PRI  • PSDI)	1956
19		Urbano Cioccetti (1905–1978)	10 January 1958	11 July 1961	DC
-	Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (11 July 1961 – 17 July 1962)[a]						1960
20		Glauco Della Porta (1920–1976)	17 July 1962	12 March 1964	DC	Organic Centre-left (DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI)	1962
21		Amerigo Petrucci (1922–1983)	12 March 1964	28 July 1966	DC
			28 July 1966	29 December 1967			1966
22		Rinaldo Santini (1914–2013)	29 December 1967	30 July 1969	DC
23		Clelio Darida (1927–2017)	30 July 1969	7 August 1971	DC	DC  • PSI  • PSDI
			7 August 1971	9 August 1976		DC	1971
24		Giulio Carlo Argan (1909–1992)	9 August 1976	29 September 1979	SI	Red Executive (PCI  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI)	1976
25		Luigi Petroselli (1932–1981)	29 September 1979	7 October 1981[b]	PCI
26		Ugo Vetere (1924–2013)	15 October 1981	30 July 1985	PCI		1981
27		Nicola Signorello (1926–2022)	30 July 1985	6 August 1988	DC	Pentapartito (DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI)	1985
28		Pietro Giubilo (b. 1942)	6 August 1988	19 July 1989	DC
-	Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (19 July 1989 – 19 December 1989)[c]
29		Franco Carraro (b. 1939)	19 December 1989	19 April 1993	PSI	Pentapartito (DC  • PSI  • PSDI  • PRI  • PLI)	1989
-	Special Prefectural Commissioner tenure (19 April 1993 – 6 December 1993)[d]

Notes

1. Nominated by the Prefect after the City Council failed to elect a Mayor.
2. Died in office.
3. Nominated by the Prefect after the Mayor lost the support of the majority of the City Council.
4. Nominated by the Prefect after the Mayor and the members of the City Council resigned in order to hold a new election under the provision of the new local electoral law.

Direct election (since 1993)

Since 1993, under provisions of new local administration law, the Mayor of Rome is chosen by direct election, originally every four, and since 2001 every five years.

	Mayor of Rome		Took office	Left office	Party	Coalition		Election
30		Francesco Rutelli (b. 1954)	6 December 1993	17 November 1997	FdV		Alliance of Progressives (PDS-FdV-AD-LP)	1993
			17 November 1997	8 January 2001[a]			The Olive Tree (PDS-PRC-FdV-PPI-LP-SDI)	1997
Enzo Mosino, Special Prefectural Commissioner (8 January 2001 – 1 June 2001)
31		Walter Veltroni (b. 1955)	1 June 2001	1 June 2006	DS PD		The Olive Tree (DS-FdV-DL-PRC)	2001
			1 June 2006	13 February 2008[b]			The Olive Tree (DS-FdV-DL-PRC-IdV-PdCI)	2006
Mario Morcone, Special Prefectural Commissioner (13 February 2008 – 28 April 2008)
32		Gianni Alemanno (b. 1958)	28 April 2008	12 June 2013	PdL		PdL	2008
33		Ignazio Marino (b. 1955)	12 June 2013	31 October 2015[c]	PD		PD  • SEL	2013
Francesco Paolo Tronca, Special Prefectural Commissioner (31 October 2015 – 22 June 2016)
34		Virginia Raggi (b. 1978)	22 June 2016	21 October 2021	M5S		M5S	2016
35		Roberto Gualtieri (b. 1966)	21 October 2021[d]	Incumbent	PD		PD  • SI  • EV  • DemoS	2021

Notes

1. He left the office because he was candidate at the 2001 general election as Prime Minister.
2. He left the office because he was candidate at the 2008 general election as Prime Minister.
3. Ousted from office after more than half the city's councillors stepped down.
4. Election originally scheduled for June 2021 and then postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Italy.

Timeline

Mayors

Political coalition

By time in office

Rank	Mayor	Political Party	Total time in office
1	Salvatore Rebecchini	DC	9 years, 205 days
2	Francesco Rutelli	FdV	7 years, 33 days
3	Clelio Darida	DC	7 years, 10 days
4	Walter Veltroni	DS	6 years, 257 days
5	Virginia Raggi	M5S	5 years, 121 days
6	Gianni Alemanno	PdL	5 years, 45 days
7	Amerigo Petrucci	DC	3 years, 292 days
8	Ugo Vetere	PCI	3 years, 288 days
9	Urbano Cioccetti	DC	3 years, 182 days
10	Franco Carraro	PSI	3 years, 121 days
11	Giulio Carlo Argan	SI	3 years, 51 days
12	Roberto Gualtieri	PD	3 years, 22 days
13	Nicola Signorello	DC	3 years, 7 days
14	Ignazio Marino	PD	2 years, 141 days
15	Luigi Petroselli	PCI	2 years, 8 days
16	Glauco Della Porta	DC	1 year, 239 days
17	Rinaldo Santini	DC	1 year, 213 days
18	Umberto Tupini	DC	1 year, 192 days
19	Pietro Giubilo	DC	347 days

Election

See also: Elections in Rome

Deputy Mayor

The office of the Deputy Mayor of Rome was officially created in 1993 with the adoption of the new local administration law. The Deputy Mayor is nominated and eventually dismissed by the Mayor.

#	Deputy	Term start	Term end	Party	Mayor
1	Walter Tocci	8 December 1993	17 November 1997	PDS DS	Rutelli
		20 November 1997	8 January 2001
2	Enrico Gasbarra	4 June 2001	17 June 2003[a]	DL	Veltroni
3	Mariapia Garavaglia	24 June 2003	1 June 2006	DL
		8 June 2006	13 February 2008
4	Mario Cutrufo	16 May 2008	15 July 2011[b]	PdL	Alemanno
5	Sveva Belviso	19 July 2011	12 June 2013	PdL
6	Luigi Nieri	27 June 2013	27 July 2015[c]	SEL	Marino
7	Marco Causi	28 July 2015	31 October 2015	PD
8	Daniele Frongia	26 June 2016	17 December 2016[d]	M5S	Raggi
9	Luca Bergamo	22 December 2016	25 January 2021[e]	M5S
10	Pietro Calabrese	27 January 2021	21 October 2021	M5S
11	Silvia Scozzese	3 November 2021	Incumbent	Ind	Gualtieri

Notes

1. Resigned after being elected President of the Province of Rome.
2. Resigned.
3. Resigned.
4. Resigned.
5. Dismissed by the Mayor.

References

1. President of the Government Council of Rome (Presidente della Giunta di Governo di Roma).
2. Acting mayor.