History of Italy
From the Forum to the Republic. 6 eras, 509 BCE to today.
Roman Republic, 509–27 BCE
After expelling their last king, the Romans governed themselves through elected magistrates and the Senate. The republic conquered the Mediterranean, then collapsed in civil wars.
Seat of power: Rome
Rulers
- Julius Caesar, Dictator, 49–44 BCE
Roman Empire, 27 BCE–476 CE
Augustus turned the republic into a monarchy in all but name. For two centuries the Pax Romana brought peace and trade from Britain to Egypt. The western empire ended when its last emperor was deposed in 476.
Seat of power: Rome
Rulers
- Augustus, Emperor, 27 BCE–14 CE
- Hadrian, Emperor, 117 CE–138 CE
- Constantine the Great, Emperor, 306 CE–337 CE
Ostrogothic Kingdom, 493 CE–553 CE
After Rome fell, the Gothic king Theodoric ruled Italy from Ravenna. Romans and Goths lived under separate laws until the Byzantine Empire reconquered Italy in a long war.
Seat of power: Ravenna
Rulers
- Theodoric the Great, King of the Ostrogoths, 493 CE–526 CE
Renaissance city-states, 1400–1559
Italy was a patchwork of city-states, duchies and the Papal States. Bankers and princes competed through art and architecture, and Florence led a rebirth of classical learning.
Seat of power: Florence
Rulers
- Cosimo de' Medici, De facto ruler of Florence, 1434–1464
- Lorenzo de' Medici, De facto ruler of Florence, 1469–1492
Kingdom of Italy, 1861–1946
The Risorgimento united most of the peninsula under the House of Savoy in 1861, and Rome became the capital in 1871. A liberal monarchy gave way to Mussolini's Fascist dictatorship in 1922.
Seat of power: Rome
Rulers
- Victor Emmanuel II, King of Italy, 1861–1878
- Victor Emmanuel III, King of Italy, 1900–1946
- Benito Mussolini, Prime Minister (Il Duce), 1922–1943
Italian Republic, 1946 to today
Italians voted for a republic in 1946. A democratic constitution, a post-war economic boom and founding membership of the European Community turned Italy into a major industrial nation.
Seat of power: Rome
Rulers
- Alcide De Gasperi, Prime Minister, 1945–1953
- Sergio Mattarella, President of the Republic, 2015 to today