THE D’ORFEO FAMILY, OF TRASTEVERE
Ludovico, father
Serafina, mother
Elisabetta, daughter
Rico and Gnocchi, willful cats
THE SIMONE FAMILY, OF THE GHETTO
Massimo, father
Gemma, mother
Rosa, daughter
Alessandro “Sandro,” son
Cornelia Rossi, nanny and housekeeper
David Jacobs, Rosa’s boyfriend
THE TERRIZZI FAMILY, OF TIBER ISLAND
Giuseppe “Beppe,” father
Maria, mother
Emedio, firstborn son and priest
Aldo, middle son
Marco, youngest son
OTHER CHARACTERS
Giuseppina “Nonna” Servano, matriarch and owner of Casa Servano
Paolo, her son
Sofia, his wife
Commendatore Buonacorso, Fascist officer
Comandante Spada, retiring Fascist officer
Carmine Vecchio, Fascist thug
Stefano Pretianni, Fascist thug
Rolf Stratten, Nazi aide-de-camp
Professor Tullio Levi-Civita, mathematician
Ugo Foà, President of the Jewish Community of Rome
Dante Almansi, President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities
Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Kappler, highest-ranking officer of the Schutzstaffel, or SS, in Rome
Baron Ernst von Weizsäcker, German Ambassador to the Vatican