ITALY  Italy got her name from one of the original tribes that inhabited the land, the Itali. Some of the other tribes were the Oenotrians, Siculians, Chones, among others. The Latins probably descended from the Oenotrians. Between the 16th and 15th centuries BC several populations speaking diverse Indo-European languages had entered Italy. The Pelasgi were perhaps the first inhabitants of the Palatine, the hill on which Rome would later rise, and perhaps the very ancient town called 'square Rome" is attributed to them. The Central-Southern part of Italy outlines a scenario very similar to that verified previously in Greece where the Pelasgi, an antique Mediterranean population overlapped or fused with their arrival of the Indo-European Greeks. The Itali lived in the southern part, the "toe" of the boot called Italy. The name was inherited by the Romans upon conquering the territory.  
Val Camonica rock drawings, located in the lower alpine region of Lombardy, the greatest complex of rock drawings in Europe. Dates from around 8000 BC |
Between the 15th and 8th centuries BC these cultures gradually went from hunter-gathers to domesticating animals. They began casting bronze in molds of stone and clay and they also cultivated beans, the vine, wheat and flax. Between the 8th and 5th centuries BC the Iron Age peoples began practicing cremation. They buried the ashes of their dead in pottery urns of distinctive double-cone shape. This culture, known as the Villanovan, gradually gave way to the Etruscans. 
Villanovan double urn |
The Etruscans developed in Italy around 800 BC. They are generally believed to have spoken a non-Indo-European language. They were monogamous and emphasized pairing. They had a state system of society, with remnants of the chiefdom and tribal forms, unlike the Italics who still had chiefs and tribes. The Etruscan system of belief was an immanent polytheism, all visible phenomena were considered to be a manifestation of divine power that was subdivided into dieties that acted continually on the world of man and could be persuaded or dissuaded in favor of human affairs. Rome was founded on Etruscan territory. 
Etruscan musician, Tomb of the Triclinium, Tarquintia | 
Etruscan walled City |
In the 7th and 8th centuries, Greek colonies were established in Sicily and southern Italy. This was called Magna Graecia since it was so densely inhabited by the Greeks. With this colonization Greek culture was exported to Italy, including dialects of the Ancients Greek language, religious rites and traditions. An original Hellenic civilization soon developed which later interlaced with the native Italic and Latin civilizations. The most important cultural transplant was the Chalcidean/Cumaean variety of the Greek alphabet which was adopted by the Etruscans. The Old Italic alphabet subsequently evolved into the Latin alphabet, which became the most widely used alphabet in the world. Many of the new Hellenic cities became very rich and powerful. They included Capua, Naples, Syracuse, Akragas, and Sybaris. Following the Pyrrhic War, Magna Graecia was absorbed into the Roman Republic. 
The Temple of Hera at Agrigento, Magna Graecia |
According to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BC by Romulus and Remus, brothers and probably Latin and/or Sabine. Yet in "mythology" they were sons of a Trojan prince. It was then governed by seven Kings of Rome. In 89 BC the right of Roman citizenship was extended throughout Italy and Latin became the general language. Italia, under the Roman Republic and later Empire, was the Italian peninsula from Rubicon to Balabria. During the Republic, Italia was not a province, but rather the territory of the city of Rome. For example, military commanders were not allowed to bring their armies within Italia and when Julius Caesar passed the Rubicon with his legions marked the start of the civil war. The Italian "province" was privileged by Augustus and his heirs with construction of public structures, including roads. The Italian economy flourished and the population grew. Augustus ordered three censi. By the beginning of the first century the population was around 10 million. After the death of emperor Theodosius I in 395 Italia became part of the Western Roman Empire. Then came the years of the barbarian invasions, the country was divided into several kingdoms and did not reunite for another thirteen centuries. 
| The Colosseum or Roman Coliseum, originally the Flavian Amphitheatre, is in the center of the city of Rome. It's the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. Construction started between 70 and 72 AD under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus. Domitian made modifications. Originally capable of seating around 80,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial contests and public spectacles, such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. Thousands of Christians were also publicly executed along with other executions. In the early medieval era it ceased being used for entertainment and was used for housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order, a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine. It has been estimated that about 500,000 people and over a million wild animals died in the Colosseum games. |
In 476 the last Roman Emperor was overthrown by the Germanic general Odoacer who ruled Italy until 493. He ruled until the Ostrogoths conquered Italy which led to the Gothic War during which the armies of Eastern Roman Emperor Justinian won a pyrrhic victory over the Goths in Italy. During the Gothic War the infrastructure of Italy was destroyed and the Germanic tribe of Lombards took control. It was during the Lombard rule that the popes started building an independent state. Facing Lombard offensive in 756 the papacy appealed to the Franks and the Frankish forces defeated the Lombards and gave the papacy legal authority over much of central Italy, thus creating the Papal States. The age of Charlemagne was therefore one of stability for Italy, though it was generally dominated by non-Italian interests. Trade increased but the papacy regained its authority and started a long struggle with the empire over both religious and secular matters. In the twelfth century those Italian cities which lay in the Holy Roman Empire launched a successful effort to win autonomy from the Holy Roman Empire; this made north Italy a land of quasi-independent or independent city-states until the 19th century. It wasn't until 1861 that the country we know as Italy today became unified. | 
Busts of Julius Caeser 
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Augustus, nephew of Julius Caeser 
Mausoleum of Augustus 
Temple of Augustus in Vienne |
ITALIAN IMMIGRATION TO AMERICAFrom 1876 to 1924 over 4.5 million Italians arrived in the United States with over two million in the years 1901 to 1910 alone. Yet there have been important early Italians the most famous of course being Christopher Columbus, John Cabot, Giovanni da Verrazzano and Amerigo Vespucci. After the American Revolution a small flow of northern Italian skilled artisans, painters, sculptors, musicians and dancers came to the United States joined by a trickle of political refugees. They dispersed widely throughout America. By 1850 the heaviest concentration was in Louisiana but there were only 915 of them, the result of Sicilian migration to New Orleans. Within a decade California would have the highest total of any state, only 2,805 immigrants, and New York would have 1,862. But that would soon change. Mass migration soon brought Italians by the thousands. They tended to limit their associations to fellow Italians and residents of the villages where they lived. Gradually they acclimated to the American way of life and a national identity. Italians though tend to stay highly concentrated in their 'Little Italy" clusters such as the Northeast, Midwest and outposts in California and Louisiana. More than 90 percent settled in the urban areas of only 11 states. Between 1820 and 1920 around 4,190,000 Italians immigrated to the United States, the third largest immigrant group from any country. For more information see http://www.lifeinitaly.com/history/ and http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalyHistory/ItalyHistory.html |
