History of Latium ( Lazio ) Italy - Travel Guide & Information

This description page of Lazio, will guide you in planning your trip to Italy and help you to find useful travel information about the history of this Italian Region.

The presence of man in Lazio goes back 750,000 years. The first known settlements in Latium were small hut villages located on low hills overlooking the plains. These pre-Roman Italic peoples were called Latins. Thus the area was known as Latium.

As an agricultural, pastoral, and commercial economy grew, specialized crafts gradually developed and trade increased. By 730-630 BC, the Latin settlements supported a wealthy aristocracy. Even today many structures, such as megalithic or “Cyclopean” walls, built by these pre-Roman peoples still stand well preserved and completely intact. Contact between population areas was made through natural access routes between the mountains and the sea via river valleys. During the Roman period, these access routes became the Roman roads.

Little is known about the early history of Roma. Traces of primitive huts dating to the 8th century BC have been found on the Palatine Hill although other finds in the valley of the Forum suggest that the site had been occupied from at least the 10th century. Most Roman writers believed that the city was founded in the 8th century BC.

As Roma expanded, local wars and petty disputes occurred with its neighbors. The Roman Empire gradually expanded its borders engulfing many Latin towns and villages in the process. By the 6th century BC, Roma had extended its influence over a wide area and was considered to be the chief city in the territory. Also during the sixth century BC, a Federation of Latin States under Roma was formed. Latins who were not Roman subjects were warned not to attack the cities under Roman influence and not to build forts in Latin territory. The inhabitants of the Latin cities were incorporated into the Roman state and became Roman citizens. In return, they were obligated to supply Roma with soldiers. The Latins struggled to resist R's attempts to expand its influence over them and fought many wars with Roma.

However, most Latin cities finally came under Roma's domination by 338 BC. Large areas were annexed and colonized by the Romans. Roma also founded colonies at strategic points near the borders of Lazio. As the northern provinces gradually cut their ties to Roma, in Roma itself the papacy began to accrue power. Southern Lazio was eventually incorporated into the Papal States.

During the middle ages, the hill towns of southern Lazio became a popular destination for the Popes who went there to get away from Roma and to establish permanent residences. Anagni is often called the “city of the popes” because so many popes established residences there. The Abbey of Monte Cassino was founded by Saint Benedict in 529 and became an important religious center.

The Romans gradually conquered the whole of Italy and then started their expansion in the Mediterranean and towards north in central Europe as far as the British Isles.

Lazio became one of two Prime Regions in the 1st century BC, when the republic gave way to the Roman Empire and Emperor Augustus reorganized the Empire in regions. In 476 AD, following the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the war against Byzantine, the Roman Empire reclaimed Lazio for a short period. They had to abandon the region to defend the Adriatic possessions against the Lombards. During this period, the bishop of Roma was the only authority left and the political power of the church in the area was strengthened. The State of the Church gained a total supremacy on Lazio and surrounding territories after centuries of fighting against local lords.

In the 19th century, Roma was looked at as their future capital by many of the patriots in the Italian states. However, in after the Second War of Independence in 1860, many territories of the former State of the Church to the newborn Italian Kingdom were united. Disappointingly, Roma was only taken in 1870, after the Third War of Independence.

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