Carlo Lingiardi: HISTORY OF ITALY

Being a naturalized US citizen, it’s kind of understandable that I have a deep-rooted love for my country of origin, Italy and given that there’s so much love for the people of this country towards Italy, its geography (smack in the center of the Mediterranean basin) history and culture, today I’m going to get on a podium to give a lesson about it and give support to my claim that the entire “occidental culture” developed from Italy.

Italy's deep-rooted history began some 200,000 years ago in the Paleolithic period, but is best known for the ancient Greek and Roman civilizations that reigned over Italy for over a millennium. Evidence of these powerful empires can be seen throughout Italy, and is ingrained in the lives of Italians today.

In Sardinia, Sicily and part of Mainland Italy the Beaker culture spread from Western Europe. ... In the 5th century Gauls settled in Northern Italy and parts of Central Italy. With the fall of the Western Roman Empire, different populations of German origin invaded Italy, the most significant being the Lombard, who had Milan as their capital, that remains the capital of the Lombardy region where the town of Brescia is - my birth town – which makes me a true Lombard warrior .

A complex genetic structure reflecting the multifaceted peopling pattern of the Peninsula emerged: southern populations show high similarity with those from the Middle East and Southern Balkans, while those from Northern Italy are close to populations of North-Western Europe and the Northern Balkans. Interestingly, the population of Volterra, an ancient town of Etruscan origin in Tuscany, displays a unique Y-chromosomal genetic structure.

The future of the southern Italian peninsula was shaped by the different peoples who inhabited it between the years 800 and 200 BC. These include the Etruscans, Greeks and the many Italian tribes such as the Latins, Campanian’s, Samnite, Sabine’s, etc.

The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides.

Family is one of the most important alter of respect, therefore an individual may sacrifice their rights or beliefs for family honor. Religious Practice: Most Italians are Roman Catholic. Once, the church had a great deal of influence over the way of life of Italians. Today that influence has declined.

Italian culture is steeped in the arts, family, architecture, music and food. Home of the Roman Empire and a major center of the Renaissance, culture on the Italian peninsula has flourished for centuries. Here is a brief overview of Italian customs and traditions.

Religion in Italy is characterized by the predominance of Christianity and an increasing diversity of religious practices, beliefs and denominations. Most Christians in Italy adhere to the Catholic Church, whose headquarters are in the Vatican City, Rome.

Italian people are generally known for their localism (both regionalist and municipality) and their attention to clothing and family values.

Italian breakfast (prima colazione) consists of caffè e latte (hot coffee with milk) or coffee with bread or rolls, butter and jam. A cookie-like rusk hard bread, called fette biscottate, and cookies are commonly eaten. Children drink hot chocolate, plain milk, or hot milk with very little coffee.

The name Italia was in origin applied only to a portion of what is now Calabria, possibly from an Oscan name Víteliú, interpreted as "[land] of young cattle". It was not applied to the entire peninsula (now under Roman rule) until the 1st century BCE

Between around 1880 and 1924, more than four million Italians immigrated to the United States, half of them between 1900 and 1910 alone—the majority fleeing grinding rural poverty in Southern Italy, mainly Sicily. Today Americans of Italian ancestry are the nation's fifth-largest ethnic group.

The websites I linked below represent very well the different aspects that my country of origin offers to both researchers, scholars and people who love to see and experience beauty in everything at the maximum possible level.

These are the reasons that have me determine that in Italy are the roots of our world today.