- published: 28 Nov 2015
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The Mafia (also known as Cosa Nostra) is a criminal syndicate that emerged in the mid-nineteenth century in Sicily, Italy. It is a loose association of criminal groups that share a common organizational structure and code of conduct, and whose common enterprise is protection racketeering. Each group, known as a "family", "clan", or "cosca", claims sovereignty over a territory in which it operates its rackets – usually a town or village or a neighbourhood (borgata) of a larger city. Its members call themselves "men of honour", although the public often refers to them as "mafiosi".
According to the classic definition, the Mafia is a criminality originating in Sicily - i.e. Cosa Nostra. However, the term "mafia" has become a generic term for any organized criminal network with similar structure, methods, and interests.
The Mafia proper frequently parallels, collaborates with or clashes with, networks originating in other parts of southern Italy, such as the Camorra (from Campania), the 'Ndrangheta (from Calabria), the Stidda (southern Sicily) and the Sacra Corona Unita (from Apulia). However, Giovanni Falcone, the anti-Mafia judge murdered by the Mafia in 1992, objected to the inflation of the use of "Mafia" to organized crime in general:
Coordinates: 42°24′39″N 11°17′11″E / 42.410919°N 11.286503°E / 42.410919; 11.286503
Cosa was a Latin colonia founded under Roman influence in southwestern Tuscany in 273 BC, perhaps on land confiscated from the Etruscans (Velleius Paterculus 1.14.7; Livy Periochae 14; Strabo 5.2.8). The Etruscan site (called Cusi or Cosia) may have been where modern Orbetello stands; a fortification wall in polygonal masonry at Orbetello's lagoon may be in phase with the walls of Cosa. The position of Cosa is distinct, rising some 113 metres above sea level and is sited 140 km northwest of Rome on the Tyrrhenian Sea coast, on a hill near the small town of Ansedonia. The town experienced a hard life and was never truly a prosperous Roman city, although it has assumed a position of prominence in Roman archaeology owing to the circumstances of its excavation (cf. Dyson 2005, below). After the foundation, wars of the 3rd century BC affected the town (Livy 22.11.6; 27.10.8-9; 32.2.7; 33.24.8-9). Cosa seems to have prospered until it was sacked in the 60s BC, perhaps by pirates. This led to a re-foundation under Augustus and then life continued until the 3rd century. One of the last textual references to Cosa comes from the work of Rutilius Claudius Namatianus in his De reditu suo. In the passage 1.285-90, Rutilius remarks that by 416 the site of Cosa was deserted and could be seen to be in ruins. He further suggests that a plague of mice had driven the people of Cosa away.
In Sarajevo, the vodka is Gut!
In Buenos Aires, the girls are hot
In Alabama, the niggers sing
In the green Dublin, I drunk ten beers
In the far Sidney, a kangaroo
In California, a girl so cool
Now is time to dance together
Let s drink until death!
Cosa Nostra, La Muzzarella, El Pepperoni y Tersivel
In the cloudy London, a cup of tea
In the lands of Scotland, I lost my kilt
In the Nordic winter, a girl so warm
How was she in bed? A warrior!
In Alabama, the niggers sing
In the green Dublin, I drunk ten beers
Now is time to dance together
Let s drink until death!
Cosa Nostra, La Muzzarella, El Pepperoni y Tersivel