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| The Colosseum is one of the greatest testimonies of Roman civilization in the world. (Photo by: Fgflores2) |
Located in the heart of the Mediterranean, Italian lands attracted numerous tribes and nations over the centuries. Many did not last and the traces of their political power and cultural development were wiped by the newcomers. Others successfully blended in and contributed to the further development of the lands. And, of course, there are also those, who managed to not only politically rule long enough, but to impose their social structure and cultural traditions onto the rest and thus create history.
Although the Etruscans are believed to be the first significant civilization in the lands of modern-day Italy, after being absorbed by the Roman Republic, unlike Magna Graecia, left little influence behind. The Romans, on the other hand, apart from being excellent warriors and canny rulers, were also very inventive in the field of administration, engineering and law. By means of military power they managed to spread "the Roman way" throughout Europe. Neither the continent, nor the world would be the same after the invention of paved roads, postal office, plumbing, to name but a few.
However, Italian contribution to human history does not end with the Romans. It was from the cities of Northern Italy that the sparkle of the Renaissance was lit to spread throughout Europe. Brilliant minds such as Galileo Galilei and Leonardo da Vinci started a powerful revolt of the human mind against old-fashioned dogmatic views and changed the course of history of human society.
Unfortunately, as it goes in human history, changes are often accompanied by social and political unrest and strategically beneficial geographic positions, such as the one of the Italian lands, tend to turn into battlefields every time a political or economic crisis sets in. Therefore throughout its history, Italy has had more than a fair share of struggles and rivalry, especially in the Middle Ages, which led to a troubled, late unification. The emerging of Italy as a political and economic power has seen a number of setbacks in the 20th century, with the light of transparency and democracy often flickering.
