ABSTRACT
This chapter considers the different forms of territorial behaviour developed by the Roma and the Roma, two 'Gypsy' groups. The Roma and Roma show that territoriality is a complex phenomenon: one group can have a territory in respect to another, and a non-territory in respect to a third competitive group. The Roma were convinced that the affluence of the Italians was exploitable everywhere. The Roma, on the other hand, know the 'world' of the Italians quite well, and for this very reason they try to safeguard it rather than exploit it indiscriminately. There are local groups who rely almost exclusively on this knowledge in order to 'look after' their own zone of influence.As opposed to the Roma, the Roma have a mono-centric system, in the sense that every local group has its own strongly aggregative centre. The movements from one centre to another are essentially social in nature.
