In 1827, Giuseppe Mazzini was initiated into the Carbonari, the secret society of charcoal-burners that worked throughout Italy for constitutional government. Jacopo followed within weeks.
The rituals were elaborate: oaths sworn on daggers, passwords exchanged in darkness, symbols of fire and rebirth. But beneath the ritual theater lay genuine conviction. These young men were willing to die for their beliefs.
Jacopo proved a natural organizer. While Giuseppe provided the vision, Jacopo translated vision into structure. He recruited. He coordinated. He maintained the delicate web of communications that held the scattered conspirators together.
They spoke of the coming transformation. Italy would awaken. The dead hand of the Habsburgs would be thrown off. A nation would be born — not through the machinations of kings but through the will of the people.
"We are the midwives of the future," Jacopo wrote. "The child struggles to be born. Our task is to assist the birth, knowing that we may not survive to see the child grow."
They understood the danger. The Austrian secret police watched. Informers lurked everywhere. To be discovered meant prison, torture, possibly death. Yet they continued.
For what was the alternative? To accept injustice? To live comfortable lives while others suffered? To die at the end of a long existence having never truly lived?
"I would rather live one year as a lion," Giuseppe said, "than a hundred years as a sheep."
"And I would rather die standing," Jacopo replied, "than live on my knees."