Ferdinand IV with a decree of 16 April 1792 definitively abolished rights of passage in the strict sense, or without consideration. The abolition was launched on the proposal of Nicola Vivenzio, tax lawyer of the royal patrimony, and following the investigation carried out in 1777, when it emerged that compared to 245 authorized steps, there were another 103 illegal ones, as well as some uncertain ones. Iacovetti, who dealt with the issue in detail immediately after the abolition, compares Ferdinand IV to "Hercules the liberator (who), striking a single blow, had to knock down that devouring hydra, which had been vainly weakened by so many of his predecessors, (instead) to remain at least disconcerted in some way, from the repeated wounds she had acquired greater and greater strength and firmness". It is a description that, beyond the rhetoric, describes the situation perfectly.