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Italy

The long tradition that the distinguished country of Italy provides among its mountainous Northern Alps, inland pastoral landscapes and enchanting coastlines is much to explore. Perhaps no other city in the world has held such a historical importance than the capital city of Rome. Centuries prior to having created itself as the super power empire that came to dominate a massive territory in Europe and Asia, Rome was a village inhabited by the Etruscan people from Asia Minor. These tribes along with a similar group named the Taquins, established a collection of towns along the Tiber River in ninth century B.C. In 509 BC, a Taquin King raped the daughter of a powerful landowner in Rome and conflict emerged that soon put the Estruscan-Taquin Rule on the brinks of an overthrow. Soon under leadership of the Roman nobles, the accused king was deposed and rule was replaced with a republic administered by two elected consuls. This form of representational government was nearly unprecedented in Europe but gained mass popular appeal and developed a regional military force that spread throughout the peninsula.

history cont'd... +

The military showed its strength by defeating Greek colonies to its south and Cartridge, at the time a major archenemy. By 146 BC Rome was forming its Empire by annexing conquests along the Mediterranean including Sardinia, Macedonia, North Africa and Spain. Rome’s expansion didn’t humbly stop as it sought more territory to the North into Europe including France, Belgium and parts of England. This aggrandizement provided tremendous wealth and surplus commodities to the home front. The Roman people grew to expect the pillages that such dominion allowed. Yet unrest ensued with frequent slave revolts that often ended barbarically as the Senate sought greater wealth, creating a corrupt governing Republic.

Intent on correcting the growing problems facing the immense area under Rome’s control, Julius Caesar had to reluctantly reform and name himself emperor in 44 BC. His emphasis on maintaining the powerful land claims while correcting the local issues quickly made him unpopular with the previous controlling Senators of whom many he had forced into exile. His favor among the lower classes though was exemplary while the politicians who felt betrayed, sought revenge that resulted in Caesar’s death in a stabbing that included his confidante Brutus.

The throne was bequeathed to 18 year old Octavian, Caesar’s nephew, who assumed the name Emperor Augustus and whose reign ushered in the Pax Romana, a 200 year peaceful Roman era. A series of military commanders and handpicked successors followed including Trajan who led expansion eastward. But the armies started facing off attacks from Germanic tribes who began to exert some influence on the empire’s rule.

As Christianity spread, different leaders varied on their acceptance of the religion. Early on, horrible repression was enacted similar to that experienced by the slaves. But in 313, Emperor Constantine fully embraced Christianity and relocated the empire’s capital to Byzantium, present day Istanbul. This change split rule over the empire in half with each side presiding over the Eastern and Western territory. But by 476 power finally grew insufficient to retain control over such a major area and the Empire's collapse occurred.

Chaos ensued for a time without established control that invited invasions from the north including Goths, Ravennas, and the Lombards from whom Constantine had emerged. Weak central control existed in Italy for approximately the next 15 centuries despite efforts from a newly established Church. The influence of the Catholic papacy brought some stability as it helped wean control away from disparate powers of the region by seeking French protection which established what came to be known as the Holy Roman Empire.

The Lombards, Austrian Hungarians, other invaders and ancestors from the empire existed within a collection of duchies, principalities and city states. The Catholic Church commanded it’s presence from 800-1500 particularly serving as the religious proxy to the rest of Europe. But as the Renaissance dawned and the black plague eradicated one third of Italy’s population, the church’s popularity diminished. The humanist mode of thought that the Renaissance created broke from the Medieval “DarkAges,” inspiring a philosophical, rational approach to the world. The flourishing artistic developments at the time began out of Florence but grew rapidly across the region, aided by the wealthy families like the Medici’s who provided support. A few of those renowned painters of the time included da Vinci, Donatello, and Michelangelo. Despite the movement’s importance in transcending the middle ages towards a modernity of more ingenious times, the luster eventually faded and political weakness permitted Charles V of Spain to occupy Italy.

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