YEAR |
EVENT |
753 BC |
Legendary
founding of Rome by Romulus and Remus. |
509 BC |
Republic
established. Rome is ruled by consuls, elected for one-year
terms by patricians. |
272 BC |
Italy consolidated
under Roman rule. |
264-146 BC |
Wars with
Carthage ultimately lead to its destruction. |
90-89 BC |
Roman citizenship
extended throughout Italy. |
44 BC |
Julius
Caesar assassinated. |
27 BC |
Octavius,
adopted son of Julius Caesar, changes his name to "The
August One" (Augustus) and rules the Empire. |
70 AD |
Titus crushes
the 68 AD revolt of the Jews. The Temple in Jerusalem
is destroyed. |
161-80 |
Marcus
Aurelius rules the Roman Empire. |
380 |
Christianity
becomes the official religion of the Roman Empire. |
450-475 |
Germanic
tribes destroy the Western Roman Empire; Rome sacked.
|
476 |
The Germanic
leader Odoacer sacked Rome, ending the Western Roman
Empire. |
572 |
The Lombards
invaded Italy, ending the last period of Byzantine rule
in Italy. |
800 |
Charlemagne
was crowned emperor of the Romans by Pope Leo III. |
962 |
Otto the
Great was crowned emperor, marking the beginning of
the Holy Roman Empire. |
1300s |
The thriving
Italian city-states such as Florence and Venice contributed
to the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy. |
1494 |
The French
army defeated the armies of several of the divided city-states.
France and the Holy Roman Empire subsequently vied for
control of Italy. |
1559 |
Most of
Italy had come under the influence of the Spanish Habsburgs.
Control passed to the Austrian branch of the family
by the early 1700s. |
1796 |
Napoleon
Bonaparte conquered much of northern Italy and established
Italian republics. |
1814 |
Following
Napoleon's defeat, Italy was divided into the Papal
States, Austrian duchies, the Kingdom of Sardinia, and
the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies |
1859 |
Sardinia
and France expelled the Austrians from all of northern
Italy except Venice. |
1861 |
The Kingdom
of Italy was formed, encompassing the entire peninsula
except for Rome, Venice, and San Marino. |
1866 |
Venice
became part of Italy |
1870 |
Italian
forces occupied Rome, which became the capital of Italy
the following year. |
1912 |
Italy acquired
Libya after a war with the Ottoman Empire. |
1915 |
Although
it was allied with Germany and Austria-Hungary, Italy
entered World War I on the side of the Allies. |
1922 |
Benito
Mussolini became prime minister of Italy and rapidly
assumed dictatorial powers. |
1929 |
The Lateran
Treaty normalized relations between Italy and the Vatican. |
1940 |
Italy entered
World War II having previously formed an alliance with
Germany. |
1943 |
Italy surrendered
to invading Allied forces, but Germany took control
of the country and fought the Allies until the end of
the war. |
1946 |
Italians
voted to abolish the monarchy, and Italy became a republic. |
1952 |
Italy became
a founding member of the European Coal and Steel Community,
which would eventually become the European Union. |
1984 |
Reflecting
the diminished influence of the church in Italian life,
Roman Catholicism was de-institutionalized as Italy's
state religion. |
1986 |
Italy took
its most visible steps toward fighting organized crime,
convicting 338 Mafia members of criminal activities. |
1990s |
Scandals
and corruption led to the fall of the Christian Democratic
party, which had been the most influential political
force in Italy since 1948. |
1994 |
A rightist
coalition, led by Silvio Berlusconi elected to power.
The coalition collapsed late in the year, and Berlusconi
was forced to resign as prime minister. |
1996 |
The Olive
Tree coalition was voted into power, marking the first
time since World War II that a leftist government controlled
Italy. |
2001 |
In June
2001, for the second time since 1994, a right-wing government
led by the media mogul Silvio Berlusconi came to power
in Rome. |
