Italian History

Pre-Roman Civilization in Italy

The history of Italy has had a profound and lasting impact on the world. Before the Roman era, its peninsula was home to a number of Mediterranean cultures speaking different languages and practicing different customs. These included branches of the Etruscan and Ancient Greek civilizations, as well as more recent Indo-European immigrants moving through Europe. Among these were the Italic people, who united under the Latin tribe near modern Rome. These tribes fought to repel the dominant Etruscans. In doing so, they paved the way for Roman civilization.

According to legend, the city of Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus, its first king. Romulus was one half of a set of abandoned twins. He and his brother, Remus, survived through the care of a she-wolf. After founding the city together, however, Remus eventually died at the hands of his brother. The Roman Senate emerged with the birth of the city. It consisted of wealthy landowners, or patricians, who elected each king between themselves. Seven kings are said to have served the young city. The last of them, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was supposedly deposed by the Senate in 509 BCE after the violation and suicide of Lucretia, a Roman noblewomen.

The Roman Republic

The Roman Republic unified and controlled the Italian Peninsula for about 500 years. Rather than kings, the Senate now elected consuls, who ruled jointly for a single year. This period saw the expansion of Rome from a regional power to the largest empire of its time. While Alexander the Great conquered to the east, Rome was battling Celtic Gauls in the north. The expanding republic then turned its attention to Phoenician Carthage. Its eventual victory in the Punic Wars, including repelling the invasion of Hannibal Barca, cemented Roman authority in the Mediterranean world.

The republic met its end through the political rise of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Marcus Licinius Crassus. These three men came to dominate Rome’s military and politics in the 1st century BCE, an alliance known as the First Triumvirate. Crassus, however, soon died in an ill-advised invasion of Parthian Persia. His death transformed the triumvirate into a direct contest for power. Caesar and Pompey, now rivals, divided Rome with a bitter civil war. Caesar emerged victorious, cowed the Senate, and named himself dictator in 49 BCE. His reign came to a famous close with his violent assassination by members of the Senate four years later.

The Roman Empire

The Roman Republic ended with Julius Caesar, but the Roman Empire began with his great-nephew, Octavian. After Caesar’s death, Octavian formed a Second Triumvirate with Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus. By 31 BCE, both Antony and Lepidus were dead through a famous series of events, including the death of Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. Octavian was careful to preserve the Roman Senate and acquire power gradually. He took the name Augustus and founded a principate in 27 BCE. His efforts to expand Rome’s borders, revitalize its infrastructure, and support its arts led to a period known as the Pax Romana. Most importantly, his relatively peaceful consolidation of power ensured a stable transition to his heir, Tiberius.

Augustus’ reign perhaps marked the peak of Roman power and culture. The emperors that followed him saw both successes and failures, and some were more suited to leadership than others. The empire’s wealth allowed for massive building projects like the Colosseum, completed in 80 CE, which famously hosted elaborate gladiatorial games. Roman expansion into Europe was halted by the growing organization of Germanic tribes, who occasionally led counter-offensives against the city itself. Burdened by its own weight, the immense Empire split into two administrative units in the year 285. The western empire remained centered in Rome, while the eastern half reigned from Greek Byzantium, now modern Turkey. Emperor Constantine converted to Christianity and moved the Roman capital to Constantinople a few decades later. In 410 CE, the Visigoths sacked Rome, the first time foreign invaders had taken the city in nearly 800 years.

Italy in the Middle Ages

As a general consensus, the medieval period in European history begins with the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 CE. Over the next few centuries, Byzantine emperors like Justinian I wrestled with the Goths for control of the great city. As the rest of Europe stabilized and recovered in the absence of Roman centralization, Italy suffered famine, warfare, and disease. To the north, the Germanic threat appeared in waves, most notably via the Lombards. To the south, ascendant Islam had conquered North Africa and the island of Sicily. After crowning Charlemagne Holy Roman Emperor in 800 CE, the Papacy soon found itself at odds with the new European power. In 963, for example, Otto I removed a Pope from power and installed his own.

While the military might of Rome had been broken, its religious and political authority persisted. Many civilizations that followed sought to emulate its legacy, including the Byzantine, Holy Roman, and Russian Empires. In Anatolia, the Seljuq Turks founded the Sultanate of Rum to carry on its name. This placed the new Papal States and their head, the Pope, in an influential position. The Pope carried the authority needed to crown kings, depose them, launch invasions, and declare Crusades. By working with the monarchs of Europe, and their rivals, Rome maintained its standing even as Italy fell into decline.

Recovery came gradually. The fractured states of Italy, unable to unify, gathered power around individual cities in the 11th century. While the papacy controlled Rome, cities like Genoa, Florence, Venice, Milan, and Pisa operated autonomously. Some came to be ruled by powerful families like the Medicis and Sforzas. Others transitioned into merchant republics, which elected a leader, or Doge, from a pool of eligible families. The atmosphere of lavish wealth, education, military prowess, and artistic competition fostered between these city-states led to the Italian Renaissance.

The Italian Renaissance

The Renaissance in Italy is generally thought to have begun in the late 14th century, though debate over its origins and nature continue. Sweeping plague, for instance, caused a sudden collapse in the social, religious, and financial power structures of medieval Europe. Meanwhile, the fall of Constantinople and Baghdad sent Greek and Arab scholars fleeing for refuge. They brought with them ancient Greek texts that revitalized philosophy and art in Italy. The new societies that emerged from this period of confusion tended to be wealthier, less overwhelmingly religious, and more connected to foreign trade networks. Italian writers, artists, philosophers, merchants, musicians and architects flourished. European monarchs began importing Italian specialists to their courts, spreading Renaissance ideas as they went.

Pre-Modern and Modern Italy

Despite its role in world history, the Italian Renaissance was relatively short-lived. By the 16th century, Italy found itself invaded once again, this time by the French and Spanish. From 1559 to 1713, much of the peninsula fell under the control of Habsburg Spain. The Protestant Reformation sent shockwaves through Europe at this time, further weakening the grasp of Rome. Italy then passed into Austrian hands until 1796, when Napoleon invaded. Napoleon carved the peninsula up into several kingdoms. His reign, though short, would set the stage for later Italian independence.

Unification arrived at last in the late 19th century. Revolutionary leaders and ambitious Italian monarchs led several unsuccessful rebellions against the Austrians. They met with many failures; the various regions of Italy had been divided for over a thousand years. Cultural differences, ancient grudges, and Austrian resistance all worked against the unifiers. Success came at last through the Kingdom of Sardinia. Its prime minister, Camillo di Cavour, navigated European politics to secure an alliance with the French against the Austrians. Sardinia gained Lombardy in 1859 as a result. The rest of Italy soon followed, forming the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. The nation would continue to expand its territories through the first World War.

In World War I, Italy fought alongside Britain and its allies against Austria-Hungary and Germany. The Italian public, however, grew resentful of the war. In its aftermath, the nation succumbed to the fascist movement of Benito Mussolini, who became a close ally of Nazi Germany. Italy’s subsequent defeat in World War II launched the state into civil war and ended its monarchy. It re-emerged as the Italian Republic and enjoyed a period of renewed economic growth through the 1950s and ‘60s. Since then, the republic has worked to curb civic corruption. Its recent politics have been dominated by the controversial Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

References

Crawford, Michael Hewson. The Roman Republic. Harvard University Press. 1993.

Duggan, Christopher. A Concise History of Italy. Cambridge University Press. 2014.

Jones, Philip. The Italian City-State: From Commune to Signoria. Oxford University Press. 1997.

Kelly, Christopher. The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press. 2006.

“The World Factbook: Italy.” Central Intelligence Agency, Central Intelligence Agency, 12 July 2018, www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/it.html.

TOTA

Traditions of the Ancestors

This group is for articles produced or approved by TOTA staff, covering a wide variety of cultures and topics.

View Group