From about AD 370 they begin to infiltrate the empire - sometimes as allies whose help is needed against other barbarians, sometimes as invaders who breach the defences and rampage through Roman provinces. In earlier centuries they have been kept at bay beyond the Rhine and the Danube. The threat comes from powerful German tribes. Even with an ever-shifting pattern of advances and losses on the empire's many frontiers, the Italian peninsula remains a secure centre.īut by the 5th century AD the western Roman empire is so weakened that even Italy itself is not safe. ![]() For the next few centuries the history of Italy is that of Rome. By 42 BC the whole of Italy, as far north as the Alps, is administered as Roman provinces. With great skill the Romans gradually extend their rule through Italy on a stick and carrot basis, offering the benefits of Roman citizenship to those who have suffered the effects of Roman military power. Roman Italy: 4st century BC - 5th century ADīy the 4th century the Etruscans are steadily losing power to the Romans, who have previously been a part of the Etruscan world and have even been ruled for a while by Etruscan kings. Where they have come from remains a subject of much scholarly debate, but by about 500 BC they control much of central Italy.Īt this time the southern part of the peninsula, together with Sicily, is dominated by Greek colonies - settled in coastal regions from about 700 BC onwards. But the dominant group at this time, the Etruscans, are of some different origin. ![]() They are Indo-Europeans, speaking the subgroup of languages known as Italic. In all other periods of prehistory and history this most desirable of territories has been shared and fought over by numerous rival groups.Īround 700 BC the majority of the tribes in Italy are relatively recent arrivals, either by land from the north or by sea across the Adriatic. The peninsula again becomes a political entity, as the modern nation of Italy, in 1861. In the 1st century BC Italy is under the control of a single power, Rome, and it will remain so until the 5th century AD. Several centuries earlier, when the name first appears, it is used only of the area in the extreme south - the toe of the peninsula. ![]() Italy, meaning the entire peninsula south of the Alps, is known as such from about the 1st century BC.
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