Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Additional Information on the Art of Italy
For more information on Italian art history, consult Gardner's
Art Through the
Ages,
a very readable textbook on the history of European art. Giorgio Vasari
wrote the world's first comprehensive art-history text with his
Lives of the Artists
in 1550, providing us with contemporary biographical information on the artists
of the Renaissance; it is still an engaging (if not always accurate) read. The
Oxford History of Art has a series of art-history books discussing every era from
the pre-classical to the modern periods, which are well illustrated and instructive
(and even affordable at about $20 a pop). For a “Virtual Museum” of Renaissance
art, check out
www.wga.hu,
with its hundreds of high-quality reproductions and
artist biographies searchable by site, artist, or time period.
A BRIEF HISTORY OF ITALY
by Reid Bramblett
One of the major reasons to come to Italy is to look at, live in, and walk through
more than 2,000 years of vivid history. In a sense, the entire nation is a huge,
open-air museum. You can hardly kick a soccer ball in Italy without hitting some
kind of historical structure, from Roman amphitheaters to medieval castles or
Renaissance statues.
The following history of Italy focuses on major dates
and associated sights of interest to travelers. For a more
detailed history, check out some of the books in the
“Recommended Reading” section of chapter 15.
PRE-ROMAN TIMES
As many statues (and AS Roma soccer logos) commemo-
rate, Rome was founded in 730
B
.
C
. by the brothers
Romulus and Remus. According to legend, a she-wolf dis-
covered the brothers in the woods, and suckled them to
good health. Remus's son Senius went on to found Siena,
where additional statues can be seen.
If you're not buying that story, a slightly more reliable
one has Etruscan tribes unifying across north-central Italy
in the 8th century
B
.
C
. to create the first statelike entity on
“the boot.” The Etruscans defeated Latin tribes and made
Rome their capital about 600
B
.
C
.
The Etruscans continued to be a strong presence in
trade, war, culture, and shipping, until first losing in Greek
naval wars in the 4th century
B
.
C
., and then becoming sub-
jugated and fully absorbed into the Roman empire by the
2nd century
B
.
C
.
Dateline
800
B
.
C
.
Etruscan
tribes begin to consoli-
date control of north-
central Italy, creating
Italy's first nation-
state.
510
B
.
C
.
Roman
Republic is established.
250
B
.
C
.
Roman and
other forces defeat the
Etruscans, marking the
beginning of the Roman
empire.
50
B
.
C
.
Rome rules
all of Mediterranean
Europe.
45
B
.
C
.
Julius Caesar
becomes ruler of Rome.
44
B
.
C
.
Caesar is
assassinated.
continues
