The Rome premiere of Accatone was accosted by the neo-fascist group Nuova-Europa, causing mayhem by violently attacking the audience and vandalising the cinema.
"Accattone" is Roman dialect and derives from "accattare" (to take, gain or acquire, often by illegal or otherwise unorthodox means). It indicates a beggar, and was mainly used in a non-literal sense, that is, it does not indicate a professional beggar but someone who lives of expedients: small thefts, begging, small-time frauds. It is a heavily derogatory term, and the leading character's having it as a nickname means he was held in low esteem even by other criminals (as this was usually the case for pimps, as they exploited prostitutes and gained money but did not personally risk their lives and health, unlike thieves, robbers and other members of the underworld). This word has become almost obsolete in Roman dialect nowadays.
According to Paolo Bonacelli, one of the main stars of Pasolini's final movie Salò ou les 120 Journées de Sodome (1975), Pasolini had Giorgio Cataldi in mind to play the part of Accattone, but he was replaced by Franco Citti because he was in jail at the time of filming. It is very typical for Pasolini's movies that the characters share their names with the actors playing them. What's interesting is that Accattone's surname is Cataldi. Giorgio Cataldi would do the first of his two films with Pasolini in Salò ou les 120 Journées de Sodome (1975), along with Bonacelli.