The Romans used the name Italia to refer to the Italian peninsula. Italy has been invaded and settled by many different peoples. Etruscans in Tuscany faught the Romans and Umbria for land, while Greeks settled the south. Jews entered the country during the period of the Roman republic, and Germanic tribes came after the fall of Rome. Mediterranean people, Greeks, North Africans, and Phoenicians entered the south. The Byzantine Empire controlled the southern part of the peninsula for five hundred years, into the ninth century. Sicily had many invaders, including Saracens, Normans, and Aragonese. In 1720, Austrians controlled Sicily and at about the same time controlled northern Italy. To this day there is a continueing of the mixing of people of different ethnic groups in Italy. |
| 1.Italy has three active volcanoes: Vesuvius, Etna, and Stromboli. | 2.Italy speaks a national language, which was based on the Tuscan dialect, but each region still speaks its own dialect. | 3.Italy is slightly larger than Arizona. | 4.The thermometer is an Italian invention. | 5.With almost 40 million visitors, Italy is the fourth most visited country in the world. |
| 6.Sixty percent of the world’s art treasures are in Italy. | 7.Bubonic Plague killed one-third of the Italian population in the 14th century. | 8.Italy holds the Guiness record for having the most elevators. | 9.The oldest European university in continuous operation is the University of Bologna, founded in 1088. | 10.The espresso machine was invented in Italy. |
With great skill the Romans gradually extended their rule while offering Roman citizenship to those who were there during the effects of Roman military power. By 42 BC all of Italy, as far north as the Alps, is named as Roman provinces. For the next few centuries the history of Italy containes Rome. Even with a great amount of advances and losses on the empire's many teritories, the Italian peninsula remains Roman for the time being. |
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Anthony