A BRIEF HISTORY OF ITALY

By karen vanzella
  • 3300 BCE

    PREHISTORY - Bronze Age

    PREHISTORY - Bronze Age
    Civilisations developed such as the Terramaricoli, the Ligurians and the Sards
  • 700 BCE

    GREEKS AND ETRUSCANS

    GREEKS AND ETRUSCANS
    The area where the Greeks established their colonies was called Magna Grecia.
    There was another important civilisation, the Etruscans, who in the 6th century BC became the most powerful population in central and northern Italy.
  • 27 BCE

    THE ROMAN EMPIRE

    THE ROMAN EMPIRE
    There is a myth that Rome was founded by Romulus in 753 BC,in the place where he killed his brother Remus.
    Despite this, history tells us that the Latin communities settled on the Palatine Hill and formed the first nucleus of Rome.
    In 509 BC the Romans established a republic and in 27 BC the Roman Empire was born
  • 476

    THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE

    THE FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
    Invasions and civil wars weakened the Empire so the Emperor Diocletian decided to divide the empire into east and west.
    His successor, Constantine, united the two empires.
    In Rome there were events such as the sack of Rome by the Goths, the invasion of the Vandals from Spain and North Africa and in 476 the deposition of the last emperor by the Germanic troops.
  • 1000

    THE MIDDLE AGES

    THE MIDDLE AGES
    Period of invasions and struggles for domination between the conquerors and the popes.
    At the end of the 11th century, trade began to develop again, the four maritime republics Genoa, Pisa, Amalfi and Venice became important political and commercial powers.
  • 1300

    THE RENAISSANCE

    THE RENAISSANCE
    Popes and wealthy families financed paintings and sculptures of emerging artists such as Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo.
    There was also progress in science, philosophy and literature.
    The Tuscan dialect was established as the literary language of Italy.
  • 1500

    FOREIGN RULE

    FOREIGN RULE
    Italy was subject to a number of invasions and wars by the French,Spanish and the Austrians.
    With the opening of the Atlantic and Indian Ocean trade routes, Italy lost much of its importance and the country went into economic decline.
    In 1796, Napoleon invaded Italy and forced the Austrians to withdraw.
    In 1814 the Congress of Vienna divided Italy into ten states and recreated the previous divisions of the country, with most of the areas under foreign control.

  • UNIFICATION

    UNIFICATION
    The discontent with the political and social situation led to the foundation of secret societes and rebellions in Sicily, Naples and Piedmont.
    Giuseppe Mazzini and Giuseppe Garibaldi played a central role in the Risorgimento