Synopsis
From the earliest times, successive waves of foreign invaders have left their mark on Italy. Beginning with Germanic invasions that undermined the Roman Empire and culminating with the establishment of the modern nation, Girolamo Arnaldi explores the dynamic exchange between outsider and “native,” liberally illustrated with interpretations of the foreigners drawn from a range of sources. A despairing Saint Jerome wrote, of the Sack of Rome by the Visigoths in 410, “My sobs stop me from dictating these words. Behold, the city that conquered the world has been conquered in its turn.” Other Christian authors, however, concluded that the sinning Romans had drawn the wrath of God upon them.
Arnaldi traces the rise of Christianity, which in the transition from Roman to barbarian rule would provide a social bond that endured through centuries of foreign domination. Incursions cemented the separation between north and south: the Frankish conquerors held sway north of Rome, while the Normans settled in the south. In the ninth century, Sicily entered the orbit of the Muslim world when Arab and Berber forces invaded. During the Renaissance, flourishing cities were ravaged by foreign armies—first the French, who during the siege of Naples introduced an epidemic of syphilis, then the Spanish, whose control preserved the country’s religious unity during the Counter-Reformation but also ensured that Italy would lag behind during the Enlightenment.
Accessible and entertaining, this outside-in history of Italy is a telling reminder of the many interwoven strands that make up the fabric of modern Europe.
Publishers Weekly
Although Arnaldi claims he's not trying to find the central thread running through Italian history, his book certainly indicates that he has found one such theme: the relationship between "foreigners" and Italians, from the Germanic invaders in Roman times to the participation of Austrians in the formation of the Italian nation-state in the late 19th century. For Arnaldi, a professor emeritus of medieval history in Italy, religion has been a major aspect of this interaction. His evaluation of the impact of invasion is mixed. He praises the legacies in architecture and agriculture left by Muslim forces who took control of Sicily in the ninth century, but understandably, he's less sanguine about the epidemic of syphilis that spread after the French invasion in the 16th century. Soon thereafter, Spanish control of parts of Italy maintained religious unity, but kept Italy from being a major participant in the Enlightenment. Despite this, Arnaldi is positive about the role Christianity has played in the history of both Italy and the rest of Europe; there was, he writes, "no effective social glue comparable with Christianity." The book assumes a reader's knowledge of basic Italian history; for such readers, it has much to offer. (Nov.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.