Italy Through the Ages: From Etruscans to Modern Republic

Ancient

• Etruscans (8th–5th c. BCE) – early city-states.
• Roman Republic (509–27 BCE) – expansion across Mediterranean.
• Roman Empire (27 BCE–476 CE) – Western civilization's center.

Middle Ages

• Fall of Rome → fragmentation.
• Papal power rise.
• Maritime republics (Venice, Genoa) & city-states (Florence, Milan).

Renaissance (14th–17th c.)

Rebirth of art, science, humanism: da Vinci, Michelangelo, Raphael; Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio.

Unification (19th c.)

Risorgimento → Kingdom of Italy (1861), capital Rome (1870). Wars of independence.

Modern

• Fascist era (1922–1943) – Mussolini, dictatorship, WWII Axis.
• Republic (1946–present) – Constitution, democracy, EU founding member.
• Economic miracle (1950s–80s), then stagnation.
• Contemporary – immigration debates, cultural vitality, tourism, design, cuisine.

Italy's history is a palimpsest of empires, art, faith, and reinvention.