ROME, July 22 — The city of Rome has issued a permanent ban on gladiator impersonators who are accused of trolling camera-wielding tourists and fleecing them of cash after posing for photos.
It was one of the first orders of business for the city’s new mayor Virginia Raggi, who has made cleaning up the city one of her top mayoral priorities.
Though the faux-gladiators were banned last November by the interim mayor, the edict expired in June.
Raggi announced the permanent ban in a Facebook post this week when the order was passed, writing, “Rome is finally off and running!”
The move to ban the costumed gladiators altogether comes following a string of complaints from tourists, some of whom claim they were duped into coughing up 50 euros for a photo by the fast-talking, aggressive pitchmen.
Some scams include approaching tourists with the promise that they won’t be charged any money. Once the photo is taken, however, the actors become aggressive, demanding cash in exchange for the photo.
Local English news site thelocal.it also points out that gladiators have been caught groping female tourists, or robbing them from under their noses.
Last winter, a film crew from Romania captured a scam on camera after posing for photos with a gladiator. The impersonator demanded €100 (RM448) for the photo and snatched €50 from a crew member’s wallet when he refused.
Offenders who break the ban will be fined up to €400.
Tourists visiting the city will likewise be spared scams from unlicenced and unscrupulous rickshaw tour operators. — AFP-Relaxnews
