ROME IS RULED BY CATS

"Rome is ruled by cats, and in some instances they have more rights than people. Good for them. They deserve it. If you are lucky enough to have a kitten born on your doorstep, by law it has the right to live on your property. You don't necessarily have to care for it, but if it wants to watch Big Brother, or some other quite inane television program, let it. Life will be easier.Where did all these cats come from? Egypt. When the ancient Egyptian empire fell, the felines boarded sailing vessels and scattered themselves around the world. Lucky for Rome, some of them ended up here to help maintain the rat problem, which was good during the 1300's when the bubonic plague arrived in Italy.Today in the Coliseum area alone there are about 200 cats, but the real Roman cat sanctuary is Torre Argentina. It is one of the older temples in Rome (400-300 B.C.) and the historic site where Julius Ceasar was stabbed by his rival Brutus in 44 B.C. Since then, 250-300 stray cats have found shelter here from chaos and traffic. They are fed, spayed, pet and given medicine by an international group of volunteers."