Italy

The Roman Empire of Roma Italia (Latin: Imperium Romanum la Roma Italia Italian: L'impero Romano di Roma Italia) is a nation centered around the Italian Peninsula in Europe. The nation borders France, Switzerland, Germany, and Yugoslavia.

Italy is the 23rd most populated country in the world, and the 73rd largest by size. Roma Italia is a Constitutional Monarchy with the Emperor (Current: Horatius Agrioli) and the Senate holding equal power.

Etymology
The term Italia, from was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning "land of young cattle" (cf. Lat vitulus "calf", Umbvitlo "calf"). 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.

Prehistory
Excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Paleolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. The Ancient peoples of pre-Roman Italy – such as the Umbrians, the Latins (from which the Romans emerged), Volsci, Samnites, the Celts and the Ligures which inhabited northern Italy, and many others – were Indo-Europeanpeoples; the main historic peoples of non-Indo-European heritage include the Etruscans, the Elymians and Sicani in Sicily and the prehistoric Sardinians.

Between the 17th and the 11th centuries BC Mycenaean Greeks established contacts with Italy and in the 8th and 7th centuries BC Greek colonies were established all along the coast of Sicily and the southern part of the Italian Peninsula became known as Magna Graecia. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily.

Antiquity
Ancient Rome was an Italic civilization that began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along theMediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the ancient world[1]with an estimated 50 to 90 million inhabitants (roughly 20% of the world's population[2][3][4]) and covering 6.5 million square kilometers (2.5 million sq mi) during its height between the first and second centuries AD.[5][6][7]

In its approximately 12 centuries of existence, Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to a classical republic to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate Southern and Western Europe, Asia Minor, North Africa, and parts of Northern and Eastern Europe. Rome was preponderant throughout the Mediterranean region and was one of the most powerful entities of the ancient world. It is often grouped into "Classical Antiquity" together withancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are known as the Greco-Roman world.

The Romans are still remembered today, including names such as Julius Caesar, Cicero, and Augustus. Ancient Roman society contributed greatly to government, law, politics, engineering, art, literature, architecture, technology, warfare, religion, language, society and more in the Western world. A civilization highly developed for its time, Rome professionalized and greatly expanded its military and created a system of government called res publica, the inspiration for modern republics[8][9][10] such as the United States and France. It achieved impressive technological and architectural feats, such as the construction of an extensive system of aqueducts and roads, as well as large monuments, palaces, and public facilities.

By the end of the Republic, Rome had conquered the lands around the Mediterranean and beyond: its domain extended from the Atlantic to Arabia and from the mouth of the Rhine to North Africa. The Roman Empire emerged under the leadership ofAugustus Caesar. 721 years of Roman-Persian Wars started in 92 BC with their first war against Parthia. It would become the longest conflict in human history, and have major lasting effects and consequences for both empires. Under Trajan, the Empire reached its territorial peak. Republican mores and traditions started to decline during the imperial period, with civil wars becoming a common ritual for a new emperor's rise.[11][12][13] States, such as Palmyra, temporarily divided the Empire in a third-century crisis. Soldier emperors reunified it, by dividing the empire between Western and Eastern halves.

Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the western part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century. This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of universal history from the pre-mediaeval "Dark Ages" of Europe.

Despite the empire in the west falling, the Eastern Roman Empire (Commonly known by historians as Byzantium) Following the division of the empire, It comprised of Greece, the Balkans, Asia Minor, Syria and Egypt. Though it was weakened by its wars with Sassinid Persia, along with losing Egypt and Syria to the Arab-Islamic Empire, the Eastern Roman Empire continued for another millennium, until its remnants were annexed by the emerging Turkish Ottoman Empire.

Middle Ages
After the fall of the Roman Empire, Italy was seized by the Ostrogoths, followed in the 6th century by a brief reconquest under Byzantine Emperor Justinian. The invasion of another Germanic tribe, the Lombards, late in the same century, reduced the Byzantine presence to a rump realm (the Exarchate of Ravenna) and started the end of political unity of the peninsula for the next 1,300 years. The Lombard kingdom was subsequently absorbed into the Frankish Empire by Charlemagne in the late 8th century. The Franks also helped the formation of the Papal States in central Italy. Until the 13th century, Italian politics was dominated by the relations between the Holy Roman Emperors and the Papacy, with most of the Italian city-states siding for the former (Ghibellines) or for the latter (Guelphs) from momentary convenience.

In 1176 a league of city-states, the Lombard League, defeated the German emperor Frederick Barbarossa at the Battle of Legnano, thus ensuring effective independence for most of northern and central Italian cities. In coastal and southern areas, the maritime republics, the most notable being Venice, Genoa, Pisa and Amalfi, heavily involved in the Crusades, grew to eventually dominate the Mediterranean and monopolise trade routes to the Orient.[40]

In the south, Sicily had become an Islamic emirate in the 9th century, thriving until the Italo-Normans conquered it in the late 11th century together with most of the Lombard and Byzantine principalities of southern Italy.

Through a complex series of events, southern Italy developed as a unified kingdom, first under the House of Hohenstaufen, then under the Capetian House of Anjou and, from the 15th century, the House of Aragon. In Sardinia, the former Byzantine provinces became independent states known as Giudicati, although some parts of the island were under Genoese or Pisan control until the Aragonese conquered it in the 15th century. The Black Death pandemic of 1348 left its mark on Italy by killing perhaps one third of the population. However, the recovery from the plague led to a resurgence of cities, trade and economy which allowed the bloom of Humanism and Renaissance, that later spread in Europe.

Early Modern
In the 14th and 15th centuries, northern-central Italy was divided into a number of warring city-states, the rest of the peninsula being occupied by the larger Papal States and the Kingdom of Sicily, referred to here as Naples. The strongest among these city-states gradually absorbed the surrounding territories giving birth to the Signorie, regional states often led by merchant families which founded local dynasties. War between the city-states was endemic, and primarily fought by armies of mercenaries known as condottieri, bands of soldiers drawn from around Europe, especially Germany and Switzerland, led largely by Italian captains.[44] Decades of fighting eventually saw Florence, Milan and Venice emerged as the dominant players that agreed to the Peace of Lodi in 1454, which saw relative calm brought to the region for the first time in centuries. This peace would hold for the next forty years.

The Renaissance, a period of vigorous revival of the arts and culture, originated in Italy thanks to a number of factors, as the great wealth accumulated by merchant cities, the patronage of its dominant families like the Medici of Florence,[45][46] and the migration of Greek scholars and texts to Italy following the Conquest of Constantinople at the hands of the Ottoman Turks.[47][48][49] The Italian Renaissance peaked in the mid-16th century as foreign invasions plunged the region into the turmoil of the Italian Wars. The ideas and ideals of the Renaissance soon spread intoNorthern Europe, France, England and much of Europe. In the meantime, the discovery of the Americas, the new routes to Asia discovered by the Portuguese and the rise of the Ottoman Empire, all factors which eroded the traditional Italian dominance in trade with the East, caused a long economic decline in the peninsula.

Following the Italian Wars (1494 to 1559), ignited by the rivalry between France and Spain, the city-states gradually lost their independence and came under foreign domination, first under Spain (1559 to 1713) and then Austria (1713 to 1796). In 1629-1631, a new outburst of plague claimed about 14% of Italy’s population.[50] In addition, as the Spanish Empire started to decline in the 17th century, so did its possessions in Naples, Sicily, Sardinia, and Milan. In particular, Southern Italy was impoverished and cut off from the mainstream of events in Europe.

Unification and Expansion
Charles Albert, king of Sardinia at the time of the Napoleonic Wars in which he gained Corsica from was ambitious to unite the Italian people. His dreams would become recognised following multiple wars that broke out across the north of the peninsula leaving the rival north Italian states weak to his armies, and in 1832 he successfully conquered all of the northern states. Following this, King Albert soon begun to implant espionage rings in the kingdom of Sicily to undermine the King of the south.

The attempts to stir dissent were successful and the Kingdom of Sicily collapsed, allowing Albert to take over the southern lands. Following his successes across most of the peninsula, King Charles Albert become overconfident and unsuccessfully invaded the Papal States in the 1st War of Sardinian Aggression, the failed invasion cost Italy 40,000 soldiers, and disgruntled General, Fernando Agrioli formed an underground organisation dedicated to deposing the King.

In 1835, Austria noted the sudden weakness of the Sardinians and declared war over their claims in Northern Italy. This war was unsuccessful and saw Venezia ceded to the Sardinians, along with other concessions. With renewed hope and regained pride, Albert declared the 2nd War of Sardinian Aggression against the Papal State, which got him excommunicated by the Pope. This time, fortunately for Albert, the better trained and better equipped Sardinians took Rome and Charles declared himself King of a unified Italy.

Not only this, later in 1835 the King ordered for the colonisation of what would be Nigeria, Chad, and Libya. The three were inducted as Imperial subjects in 1836.

Revolution
Despite King Charles' successes, his wars came at a heavy cost. 220,000 Italians perished as a result of his wars, and regional nationalism threatened to tear Italy apart. Fernando Agrioli, who stated that he 'could not bear to watch this failure destroy Italy any further' led an army of 20,000 soldiers into Pisa, Italy. Despite Agrioli's 20,000 overwhelming and slaughtering the 2,000 Loyalist soldiers remaining there, King Albert Charles did not accept Agrioli's terms. This caused more dissent and forced Agrioli to march into Rome, where his force of 32,000 defeated the Loyalist 52,000 and King Charles was executed before a crowd on October 1st, 1838. This ushered in a new age for Italy, as the country was renamed to Roma Italia, Agrioli propped himself up as Emperor, and an Imperial Senate was arranged to give the people a voice in the government. However, due to the instability at the time, Rum occupied Libya and Tunisia, while Yugoslavia occupied Istria.

Shortly after the revolution, Fernando Agrioli named Roma Italia a Roman succssor state. This caused Italy's neighbors (Rum, Germany, and Russia) to also claim the Imperial throne. The tensions that followed were alleviated by the meeting held in Berlin, along with the Alliance of the Four Romes being formed.

The Great War
Roma Italia's involvement in the Great War revolved around the French Empire. Both the Invasion of the French south and the Italian-German invasions of the French colonies in Africa were the only areas where Roma Italia sent major support or were directly involved, despite Emperor Horatius sending guns to Crimea and multiple naval battles between the Imperial Navy and the Venezuelan Navy across the Atlantic.

Outside of the battlefield, the Great War era was also a major era for civil rights in Roma Italia. Despite Fernando Agrioli forbidding any new slaves from coming from the colonies in 1866, Horatius emancipated all current slaves in the year of 1891. Other major events include the abolition of feudal lords, women gaining the right to vote, and the legalisation of radical political parties.

Post-Great War
Following the Great War, Italy was overcome with a wave of nationalism. Consul Benito Mussolini was elected for his third term, and Titus Agrioli took the throne following Horatius' death. 1905-1925, the duration of Titus' reign, is commonly referred to by historians as Roma Italia's Fascist age. This is because following his coronation Titus and Consul Mussolini ended elections in Italy and extended the states powers over its people.

Despite his fathers peaceful ambitions, Titus was a known warmonger. During the Balkan Wars Titus attempted to invade Yugoslavia and also began multiple bombing campaigns across Ukraine's rural areas, though this pales in comparison to his invasion of Switzerland, ending decades of cooperation and friendship between the two states.

On January 8th, 1925 Mussolini's and Titus' reign of terror had ended. Yugoslavia was beginning to recover from the initial invasion from Italy and was now getting the support of Soviet soldiers behind it, Switzerland fell to the Italians, and on that fateful day Emperor Titus was assassinated by the Soviet KGB, without a legal successor. This caused a national crisis and caused multiple factions across the nation to begin fighting over control of the country. Of these factions the most prominent were Mussolini's Blackshits, Mario Vittori's Communist Revolutionaries, and Luigi Pitiuoso's Summer Republic.

Despite valiant efforts from the factions, Mussolini died later in 1925 from being beaten to death by a mob, and the Summer Republic fell to the communists once they entered Rome, this made Mario and his communists the winning faction of the Italian Civil War, and they would form the basis of the government for years to come.

Politics
The Italian form of government, since the unification of the nation in 1835, has been an absolute monarchy with feudal elements. The feudal system, however showed to be outdated and led to a high amount of corruption in the government, which in itself was a leading cause for the Revolution of 1836 along with the casualties taken in the Unification wars.

Upon Fernando Agrioli taking the throne, he created an Imperial Senate to balance the power of the Emperor of Roma Italia, thus making the nation a Constitutional Monarchy. And in 1858, Fernando Agrioli legalised political parties. This caused the parliament to become more Proportional Representation for all ideololgies. However, following Benito Mussolini's election as Consul of Roma Italia and Titus taking the throne, the country became a dictatorship.

Following the Civil War, however the government became a single-party republic and despite this, the government took a fairly liberal view on opposition, to the point where opposition parties were legalised in 1988.

The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Ukraine-Romania/Ruthenia)
Relations between the Tsardom of Ukraine-Romania and Roma Italia had been tense since the Revolution of 1838 when Tsar Viktor of Ukraine-Romania gave exhile to an Italian Prince who fled the violence in Italy. At certain points during the Great War Roma Italia sent weapons to the Crimeans to fight against the invading Ukrainians.

During the rule of the Ruthenians, however, relations improved between the two countries. This was made apparent in Rome when Tsar Oleksandr Kostiuk and Emperor Titus Agrioli met and negotiated an alliance between the two countries, this alliance, however was rendered null and void as a result of the Italian Civil War.

Following the rise of communism in both Italy and in Ukraine, Grigori Petrovsky, Premier of the Soviet Union proposed that Italy and the USSR form an alliance in the defense of Socialism and Communism. It was out of this alliance, that the Communist International was formed. The alliance between the USSR and Roma Italia remains to this day, and both countries consider the other close friends.

Germany
Italy has maintained good relations with their German neighbors to the north since the unification of Italy and through the Revolution of 1838. Upon Emperor Fernando Agrioli claiming the Roman throne, the Kaiser of the Holy Roman Empire (Germany), Albert Wettin held a meeting in Berlin for the Four Roman successor states to meet and form an alliance to get rid of the tensions that arose between the four and to keep the four romes united.

During the Italian Civil War, Germany and other Roman Empires recognised the Republic of Roma Italia (Also known as the Summer Republic) which caused tension with the Socialist faction which won the civil war. To this day, relations between Germany and Italy have improved to the point where the nations have a friendly view of one another.

Rum
Relations between Rum and Italy were mostly neutral up until the Revolution of 1838, in which Fernando Agrioli declared himself as the one true Emperor of Rome, and denounced the Rumite claims to the Imperial throne. However, following the formation of the Four Romes Alliance, there was an era of cooperation and generally better relations between Roma Italia and Rum, prior to Titus Agrioli becoming Emperor.

After the Great War, Rum and Roma Italia saw a period of friendly relations for the remainder of Horatius' reign. When Titus took the throne, however he ended all trade between Rum and Roma Italia, and he even removed the statue of Adile Osmanh from the Four Romes statue.

Following the Italian civil war, the socialist government, despite renouncing its claims to the Roman Empire kept the statue of the four emperors up, and even rebuilt the old statue of Adile Osmanh out of respect for the Rumites. Relations now are somewhat friendly as now both nations are willing to put their pasts behind them.

Crimea
When Crimea struggled for independence, Emperor Fernando turned a blind eye to it, however he was considering assisting the Ukrainians until it came to his attention that an Italian Prince, a son of Albert Charles fled to Ukraine. However, during the Great War Horatius sent weapons to the Crimeans to fight the Ukrainians. Despite all of this, however Italy remains neutral when it comes to the Crimeans.

Venezuela
Relations between Venezuela and Roma Italia have initially been neutral. Both countries mostly remained out of one another's way, despite Venezuela setting up trade posts across the coasts of Roma Italia's colonies. With the dawn of the Great War and upon Venezuela's declaration of war against the Allies, the Italian government ordered the destruction of all Venezuelan trade posts in Nigeria, this was later met by a Venezuelan invasion of Nigeria, which was initially successful but failed following the battle of Abuja which lead to most of the invasion force perishing or being captured by the Italians.

Following the Great War, Italian-Venezuelan relations remained tense, to the point of another war nearly being declared, however, following the elections of 1936 Matteo Santiago of Venezuela pushed for more cooperation between the Italians and the Venezuelans. This resulted in both countries sending soldiers to support Ukraine in the Balkan War. This began a wave of better relations, which was only improved after the Soviet Union founded the Communist International (ComIntern). In 1955 Che Guevara and Rainaldo Capece began cooperating once more in joint operations along with Nigeria in Chad to install a stable government in the warring lands.

Japan
Japan views Italy as a European state, and one of the "heirs of the Great Despots of Rome" (like Rum, Germany and Russia) -- Japan has unknown relations since we never have actually interacted through most of history.

Italy itself shares this neutral feeling towards Japan, as there have been no major events to affect relations.