Vespas/motorcycles in Rome are insane! I can't imagine how many get knocked down a day. It's a true free for all with limited rules (other than absolutely yield to pedestrians in cross walks). I didn't risk it, but understand your explanation of it very well.
I’d had maybe 6 years of biking in NYC so was kinda used to hyper aggressive driving* - being at a stoplight with 40 other Vespas gripping throttles and jockeying for position and just exploding at the light change - such a rush
* it was much easier biking in hyper aggressive traffic than traffic that’s 25% mad at bikers on principal, 25% dangerously polite , 25% distracted and 25% just regular folk