Back Italia (Romeinse Ryk) Afrikaans إيطاليا الرومانية Arabic Італія (рымская правінцыя) Byelorussian Италия (римска провинция) Bulgarian Itàlia romana Catalan Italia (talaith Rufeinig) Welsh Romersk Italien Danish Römisches Italien German Ρωμαϊκή Ιταλία Greek Italia (Romia Imperio) Esperanto
Italy Italia (Latin) | |||||||||
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.svg) Roman Empire at its greatest extent (c. 117 AD), with Italy in red and provinces in pink | |||||||||
| Capital | Rome: full-fledged until Diocletianic times, from then on mostly only de jure. Mediolanum and Ravenna: Imperial residences; de facto capital in the Late Empire (of the whole Empire or only the Western part) | ||||||||
| Common languages | Latin | ||||||||
| Religion | Roman polytheism, followed by Nicene- Chalcedonian Christianity | ||||||||
| Government | Mixed constitution | ||||||||
| Legislature | Senate and People of Rome | ||||||||
| Historical era | Classical Antiquity, Late Antiquity | ||||||||
| Population | |||||||||
• AD 1 | Estimates vary from 4 to 10 million (c. 1 million in Rome)[1][2] | ||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | IT | ||||||||
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| History of Italy |
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 Italy portal |
Roman Italy is the period of ancient Italian history going from the founding and rise of Rome to the decline and fall of the Western Roman Empire; the Latin name of the Italian peninsula in this period was Italia (continued to be used in the Italian language). According to Roman mythology, Italy was the ancestral home promised by Jupiter to Aeneas of Troy and his descendants, Romulus and Remus, who were the founders of Rome. Aside from the legendary accounts, Rome was an Italic city-state that changed its form of government from Kingdom to Republic and then grew within the context of a peninsula dominated by the Gauls, Ligures, Veneti, Camunni and Histri in the North, the Etruscans, Latins, Falisci, Picentes, Umbri, Sabines in the Centre, and the Iapygian tribes (such as the Messapians), the Oscan tribes (such as the Samnites), and Greek colonies in the South.
The consolidation of Italy into a single entity occurred during the Roman expansion in the peninsula, when Rome formed a permanent association with most of other the local tribes and cities.[3][page needed] The strength of the Italian confederacy was a crucial factor in the rise of Rome, starting with the Punic and Macedonian wars between the 3rd and 2nd century BC. As Roman provinces were being established throughout the Mediterranean, Italy maintained a special status with political, religious and financial privileges.[4][5][page needed][6] In Italy, Roman magistrates exercised the imperium domi (police power) as an alternative to the imperium militiae (military power). Italy's inhabitants included Roman citizens, communities with Latin Rights, and socii.
The period between the end of the 2nd century BC and the 1st century BC was turbulent, beginning with the Servile Wars, continuing with the opposition of aristocratic élite to populist reformers and leading to a Social War in the middle of Italy. However, Roman citizenship was recognized to the rest of the Italians by the end of the conflict and then extended to Cisalpine Gaul when Julius Caesar became Roman dictator. In the context of the transition from Republic to Principate, Italy swore allegiance to Octavian Augustus and was then organized in eleven regions from the Alps to the Ionian Sea with more than two centuries of stability afterward. Several emperors made notable accomplishments in this period: Claudius incorporated Britain into the Roman Empire, Vespasian subjugated the Great Revolt of Judea and reformed the financial system, Trajan conquered Dacia and defeated Parthia, and Marcus Aurelius epitomized the ideal of the philosopher king.
With the development of provincial governments and the proliferation of citizenship, Italy gradually lost its position as the empire's heartland, though it retained the ideological value as Roman homeland.[7][8] The Crisis of the Third Century hit Italy particularly hard, but the Roman Empire managed to survive and reconquer breakaway regions. In 286 AD, the Emperor Diocletian moved the imperial residence associated with the western provinces (the later Western Roman Empire) from Rome to Mediolanum.[9][better source needed] In 293 AD, Diocletian subdivided Italy into provinces and ended its special privileges, which led to the loss of Italy's precedence over other provinces.[10] Meanwhile, the islands of Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily and Malta were added to Italy by Diocletian. The city of Rome declined as the center of power as new capitals were established outside Italy, such as Nicomedia, Sirmium, and later Constantinople.[11] However, Italy remained the centre of the Western Roman Empire in late antiquity. Italian cities such as Mediolanum, Ravenna and Rome continued to serve as capitals for the West. The Bishop of Rome had gained importance gradually from the reign of Constantine, and was given religious primacy with the Edict of Thessalonica under Theodosius I. Italy was invaded several times by the wandering Germanic peoples and fell under the control of Odoacer, when Romulus Augustus was deposed in 476 AD. Afterwards, Italy was ruled by the Ostrogoths and then briefly reconquered by the Byzantine Empire. The Lombard invasion in 568 AD would begin the fragmentation of Italy which lasted until its unification in 1861.
- ^ Journal of Roman Archaeology, Volume 18, Part 1
- ^ Ligt, Luuk de; Northwood, S. J. (2008). People, Land, and Politics: Demographic Developments and the Transformation of Roman Italy 300 BC-AD 14. BRILL. ISBN 978-9004171183.
- ^ Mommsen, Theodor (1855). History of Rome, Book II: From the Abolition of the Monarchy in Rome to the Union of Italy. Leipzig: Reimer & Hirsel.
- ^ A. Fear; P. Liddel, eds. (2010). "The Glory of Italy and Rome's Universal Destiny in Strabo's Geographika". Historiae Mundi. Studies in Universal History. London: Duckworth. pp. 87–101. Retrieved 20 November 2021.
- ^ Keaveney, Arthur (1987). Rome and the Unification of Italy. Croom Helm. ISBN 9780709931218.
- ^ Cooley 2016b, pp. 130.
- ^ Purcell, Nicholas (2000). "Rome and Italy". The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume XI. Cambridge University Press. p. 423. ISBN 978-0521263351.
- ^ Dyson, Stephen L. (2014). The Creation of the Roman Frontier. Princeton University Press. p. 126. ISBN 9781400854899.
- ^ Video of Roman Milan (in Italian)
- ^ Cooley 2016b, pp. 122, 130–131.
- ^ Lo Cascio, Elio (2005). "The new state of Diocletian and Constantine". Cambridge Ancient History: Volume XII. Cambridge University Press. p. 172. ISBN 978-0521301992.