Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
including the Roman Forum, Colosseum, and Pantheon, as
well as the Roman roads crisscrossing Europe.
Not that all was quiet in Rome during the Golden Age.
Succession battles raged following the death of emperors
(rarely from natural causes). The Emperor Caligula
famously married his sister, named his horse to the senate,
had himself declared a god, and generally turned Rome
into his personal nut-house until he was assassinated in
A
.
D
.
41. Revolts in Palestine and the rise of Christianity (and its
subsequent persecution) created continuous unrest
throughout the realm.
The Fall
By the beginning of the 3rd century, the Roman empire was
wracked with civil wars, barbarian invasions, and domestic
unrest. Following the death of Marcus Aurelius, in 180, the
empire began its slow but steady decline. During the next 73
years, 23 different emperors “ruled” the empire. In 306,
Constantine became the first Christian emperor, relocating
the capital from Rome to Constantinople (now Istanbul). In
395, the empire formally split between the western section in
Rome and the eastern section in Constantinople.
The barbarian hordes reached the gates of Rome in 410,
with the Visigoths being the first to sack the city. Attila the
Hun swept through Italy in the 450s, and the Vandals
made a name for themselves with a savage destruction of
Rome in 455. Competing groups battled for control for the
next 100 years, leaving Rome a depopulated, crumbling
husk of a city to begin the Dark Ages.
1602
Galileo Galilei is
among the first to use
a telescope to study
the stars and planets,
collecting data to help
prove a sun-centered
solar system.
1633
After the
Inquisition threatens
torture and death,
Galileo says he was just
kidding about all that
science stuff, and
agrees that the sun
rotates around the
earth.
1804
Napoleon
declares himself
Emperor of Italy after
his armies conquer the
country.
1861
A (mostly)
united and independent
Italy becomes the
Kingdom of Italy.
1915
Italy fights
World War I on the side
of the Allies, but suf-
fers huge losses.
1922
Benito
Mussolini's fascists
march on Rome, and
Mussolini becomes
Premier.
1935
Huge crowds in
Rome cheer Mussolini
and his army's conquest
of Ethiopia.
1936
Mussolini signs
alliance with Hitler.
1945
Allies march
through Italy; Partisans
kill Mussolini and string
him up.
1945-95
“50
governments in 50
years”: Rival factions of
the Christian Democrat
group compete for
power in Italy.
SIGHTS
Virtually every construction in Italy has some
foundation in the Roman era. Rome obviously has the bulk
of the sights, with the Colosseum, Pantheon, and Forum
being three of the top attractions. Roman amphitheaters
cover the country, from Verona to Gubbio to Arezzo, and
they continue to host performances. The National
Archaeological Museum in Naples houses many relics from all
eras of the Roman empire.
DARK AGES TO EARLY MIDDLE AGES
(
A
.
D
. 475-1000)
As my grade-school history teacher liked to say, the Dark
Ages was the era in which “the light of civilization was
nearly extinguished.” Competing tribal armies fought
across Italy, with the Goths and Lombards carving out areas
of control. For their own survival, the popes became tem-
poral power brokers as they allied with warlords to protect
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