How did Italy become the country that set political standards with the Roman Republic, enchanted the world with its art and today fascinates as a tourist magnet with a luxury industry? This audiobook leads listeners into the history of a country that shaped the Western world.
Bert Alexander Petzold takes listeners on a journey through the history of Italy and conveys knowledge in an accessible, fact-rich form. Italys geography and Mediterranean climate created the conditions for a rich history of settlement, stretching from the Stone Age through Etruscan culture and deep into the Roman era.
During Roman antiquity, Rome rose to become the capital of a world empire whose influence can still be felt today. The ideas of the Roman Republic, including the separation of powers, jurisprudence and civic participation, became foundations of modern democratic systems. Rulers such as Augustus and Constantine the Great shaped epochs of world-historical importance. Under Theodosius I, Christianity was elevated to the status of state religion. Rome and St Peter's Basilica thereby remained a spiritual centre of Europe.
In the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, Italy experienced a flourishing of art, culture and scholarship. Cities such as Venice, Pisa, Siena, Florence and Rome became centres of trade, power and beauty. The Medici supported geniuses such as Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci. Works such as "David", "The Creation of Adam", "The Last Supper" and "Mona Lisa" stand for that creative power through which Italy became a world leader in art.
From the sixteenth to the eighteenth century, Italy remained a mosaic of city-states, duchies and kingdoms. It was only Giuseppe Garibaldi and King Victor Emmanuel II who brought about the unification of Italy in 1861. This phase appears as the path towards national unity and modern self-awareness.
