Escarez, Eruel Andrey M.

BSTM 3104

ITALY

Italy, country of south-central Europe, occupying a peninsula that juts deep into the
Mediterranean Sea. Italy comprises some of the most varied and scenic landscapes on Earth
and is often described as a country shaped like a boot. To the north the Alps separate Italy from
France, Switzerland, Austria, and Slovenia. Elsewhere Italy is surrounded by the Mediterranean
Sea, in particular by the Adriatic Sea to the northeast, the Ionian Sea to the southeast, the
Tyrrhenian Sea to the southwest, and the Ligurian Sea to the northwest. Areas of plain, which
are practically limited to the great northern triangle of
the Po valley, cover only about one-fifth of the total
area of the country; the remainder is roughly evenly
divided between hilly and mountainous land,
providing variations to the generally temperate
climate. Italians cannot be typified by any one
physical characteristic, a fact that may be explained
by the past domination of parts of the peninsula by
different peoples. The Etruscans in Tuscany and
Umbria and the Greeks in the south preceded the
Romans, who “Latinized” the whole country and
maintained unity until the 5th century. Jews arrived in
Italy during the Roman Republic, remaining into
present day. With the collapse of the Roman Empire
in the West, Italy suffered invasions and colonization,
which inevitably affected its ethnic composition. With some exceptions, the north was
penetrated by Germanic tribes crossing the Alps, while the south was colonized by
Mediterranean peoples arriving by sea. The Byzantines were dominant in the south for five
centuries, coinciding with the supremacy of the Lombards (a Germanic tribe) in Benevento and
other parts of the mainland. In the 9th century Sicily was invaded by the Saracens, who
remained until the Norman invasion in the early 11th century. The Normans were succeeded by
the Aragonese in 1282, and in 1720 Sicily came under Austrian rule. This mixed ethnic heritage
explains the smattering of light-eyed, blond Sicilians in a predominantly dark-eyed, dark-haired
people.

HISTORY
In the early Middle Ages

The Roman Empire was an international political system in which Italy was only a part, though
an important part. When the empire fell, a series of barbarian kingdoms initially ruled the
peninsula, but, after the Lombard invasion of 568–569, a network of smaller political entities
arose throughout Italy. How each of these developed—in parallel with the others, out of the ruins
of the Roman world—is one principal theme of this section. The survival and development of the
Roman city is another. The urban focus of politics and economic life inherited from the Romans
continued and expanded in the early Middle Ages and was the unifying element in the
development of Italy’s regions.

The late Roman Empire and the Ostrogoths

The military emperors of the late 3rd century, most notably Diocletian (284–305), reformed the
political structures of the Roman Empire. They restructured the army after the disasters of the
previous 50 years, extensively developed the civil bureaucracy and the ceremonial rituals of
imperial rule, and, above all, reorganized and enlarged the tax system. The fiscal weight of the
late Roman Empire was heavy, given the resources of the period: its major support, the land tax,
collected by local city governments, took at least one-fifth, and probably one-third, of the
agricultural produce. On the other hand, the administration and the army that the tax system
paid for reestablished a measure of stability for the empire in the 4th century.

Fifth-century political trends

The Germanic invasions of the years after 400 did not, then, strike at an enfeebled political
system. But in facing them, ultimately unsuccessfully, Roman emperors and generals found
themselves in a steadily weaker position, and much of the coherence of the late Roman state
dissolved in the environment of the continuous emergencies of the 5th century. One of the tasks
of the historian must be to assess the extent of the survival of Roman institutions in each of the
regions of the West conquered by the Germans, for this varied greatly.
The end of the Roman world
The Eastern emperors in Constantinople regarded themselves as the legitimate rulers of the
West, including Italy, after 476; both Odoacer and, for a time, Theodoric had recognized them,
and they had strong links with the Roman Senate. In 533–534 Belisarius, general for the
Eastern emperor Justinian I (527–565), conquered Vandal Africa; Amalasuntha’s death was the
necessary excuse to invade Italy. Belisarius arrived in Sicily in 535, and by 540 he had fought
his way north to Ravenna. The Ostrogothic king Witigis (536–540) surrendered to him. The
Gothic armies of the north, however, elected new kings, and Totila (541–552), the most
successful of them, kept the war going throughout the peninsula until his death in battle.

The Lombard kingdom, 584–774

King Authari ensured the survival of the Lombards, threatened as they were by both the
Byzantines and the Franks. The last Frankish invasion, in 590, probably resulted in some sort of
Frankish supremacy; the Lombards payed tribute, at least for a time, and sent detachments to
fight in the Frankish army as late as the 620s. King Agilulf reorganized the kingdom and
suppressed several dukes with pretensions to autonomy.

Popes and exarchs, 590–800

The Byzantine lands in Italy were, in theory, only provinces of the empire of Constantinople and
to that extent do not have much of an independent political history. Although Ravenna often
found itself politically opposed to Constantinople, few exarchs made a permanent impression.
The most consistent local political tradition was probably that of the archbishops of Ravenna,
who were rich and powerful and, like their counterparts in Rome, had a considerable role in the
civil administration.

Ethnic identity and government

The Ostrogothic kingdom used so many Roman governmental institutions that it can best be
understood as a virtual continuation of the late Roman imperial system. Lombard rule marked
much more of a break, without doubt. But exactly how much the Lombard states owed to the
Roman past and how much to Germanic traditions is an ongoing debate. The basic notion of the
kingdom as a political system was a Germanic concept in large part, for the legitimacy of the
king rested on his direct relationship with the free Lombard people in arms—the exercitales, or
arimanni, who formed the basis of the Lombard army. This concept did not leave much room for
Romans, who indeed largely disappear from the evidence, even when documents increase
again in the 8th century; it is likely that any Romans who wished to remain politically important
in the Lombard kingdom had to become “Lombardized.” It is even in dispute, for that matter,
how many such Romans there were. Paul the Deacon, for instance, claimed that the Roman
aristocracy were largely killed in the first generation of the Lombard invasion. But this was
certainly an exaggeration, because the Lombards adopted too many customs from the Romans
for the latter to have been reduced entirely to subjection. Some Roman aristocratic families
must have survived among the Lombards, as is suggested, for example, by the name of a royal
protégé and founder of a monastery in Pavia in 714: Senator, son of Albinus.

Examples of culture

a. Art

Italy has given rise to a number of

architectural styles, including classical
Roman, Renaissance, Baroque and
Neoclassical. Italy is home to some of the
most famous structures in the world, including
the Colosseum and the Leaning Tower of
Pisa. The concept of a basilica — which was
originally used to describe an open public
court building and evolved to mean a Catholic
pilgrimage site — was born in Italy. The word,
according to the Oxford Dictionary(opens in
new tab), is derived from Latin and meant "royal palace." The word is also from the Greek
basilikē, which is the feminine of basilikos which means "royal" or basileus, which means "king."

b. Beliefs and values

Italians tend to live by the motto ''Dolce Far Niente,'' translating into ''the sweetness of doing
nothing.'' This common motto gives an idea of how Italians prefer to live life. Italian culture is
one where people work to live, not live to work. They choose to enjoy life and the simple things
that life brings.Family plays a huge role in Italian values. It is not uncommon for families to share
a large weekly or monthly meal together where they can connect. There tends to be a female
matriarch (nonna) that directs the other women in the kitchen. Other family members will come
to her for advice and she is greatly respected. Many Italian beliefs center around the Catholic
Church. The Catholic Church has had a large impact on Italian culture, including family
traditions. There are many saints that are prayed to and many religious-based holidays. Located
in Rome is the most important Catholic establishment, the Vatican. As the home of the Pope, it
is the center of Catholicism.

c. Religion

The major religion in Italy is Roman Catholicism. This is not surprising, as Vatican City, located
in the heart of Rome, is the hub of Roman Catholicism and where the Pope resides. Roman
Catholics and other Christians make up 80 percent of the population, though only one-third of
those are practicing Catholics. The country also has a growing Muslim immigrant community,
according to the University of Michigan. Muslim, agnostic and atheist make up the other 20
percent of the population,
according to the Central
Intelligence Agency. The number
of Italians who attend religious
services at least once a week
has declined substantially from
2006 to 2020, according to
Statista. A little over 18 million
Italians aged six and older
attended weekly services in
2006, down to 12 million by 2020.

d. Language
The official language of the country is Italian. About 93 percent of the Italian population speaks
Italian as native language, according to the BBC. There are a number of dialects of the
language spoken in the country, including Sardinian, Friulian, Neapolitan, Sicilian, Ligurian,
Piedmontese, Venetian and Calabrian. Milanese is also spoken in Milan. Other languages
spoken by native Italians include Albanian, Bavarian, Catalan, Cimbrian, Corsican, Croatian,
French, German, Greek, Slovenian and Walser.

e. Laws and politics

The Italian state grew out of the kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont, where in 1848 King Charles
Albert introduced a constitution that remained the basic law, of his kingdom and later of Italy, for
nearly 100 years. It provided for a bicameral parliament with a cabinet appointed by the king.
With time, the power of the crown diminished, and ministers became responsible to parliament
rather than to the king. Although the constitution remained formally in force after the fascists
seized power in 1922, it was devoid of substantial value. After World War II, on June 2, 1946,
the Italians voted in a referendum to replace the monarchy with a republic. A Constituent
Assembly worked out a new constitution, which came into force on January 1, 1948. The
constitution of Italy has built-in guarantees against easy amendment, in order to make it virtually
impossible to replace it with a dictatorial regime. It is upheld and watched over by the
Constitutional Court, and the republican form of government cannot be changed. The
constitution contains some preceptive principles, applicable from the moment it came into force,
and some programmatic principles, which can be realized only by further enabling legislation.