The ruins of Pompeii have once again rewritten the historical record, casting new light on the military technology of the ancient world. A team of Italian researchers has identified impact marks on the city’s northern defensive walls that they believe were made by a polybolos. The Greek-engineered repeating artillery weapon (‘machine gun’) was capable of […]
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On 17 March 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed, formally bringing into existence the unification of a single Italian state for the first time since antiquity. The event marked the culmination of a long and complex process known as the Risorgimento, through which a fragmented peninsula of states, foreign territories and competing political visions […]
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The fall of the Roman Empire remains one of the most studied events in world history. For centuries Rome had dominated the Mediterranean basin, ruling an empire that stretched from Britain to the Middle East. Yet by the late 5th century AD the Western Roman Empire had collapsed, marking a major turning point in European […]
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Archaeologists working in southern Italy have uncovered a 2,400-year-old burial ground containing dozens of tombs from the ancient Samnite civilisation including child burials.
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Long before the Roman Empire dominated the Mediterranean, the Roman Republic fought a series of conflicts that would determine its control of the Italian peninsula. Among the most decisive were the Samnite Wars, a set of three major wars fought between Rome and the Samnites during the fourth and early third centuries BC.
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The Risorgimento was the political and social movement that led to the unification of Italy in the 19th century. Lasting roughly from the early 1800s until 1871, it transformed the Italian peninsula from a patchwork of independent states into a single nation: the Kingdom of Italy.
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In 2026, Italy marks 800 years since the death of St Francis of Assisi. Few medieval figures still command such wide attention, yet Francis speaks across centuries because his ideas confront enduring human tensions. We only have to look at news articles to understand that wealth, power, violence, and humanity’s place in the natural world […]
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New discoveries from the 2025 excavation campaign at San Casciano dei Bagni are reshaping the history of one of Italy’s most important archaeological sites. Researchers say activity at the Santuario del Bagno Grande began in the late 5th century BC. This is around two centuries earlier than previously believed.
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As Italy seeks UNESCO World Heritage status for the Domus de Janas, many are asking: what exactly are these mysterious prehistoric tombs, carved into the Sardinian rock thousands of years ago?
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On 5 February, officials announced the discovery of an ancient burial site in Padula, Campania. The find includes 19 tombs dating back to the 4th century BC, one of which is believed to belong to a warrior.
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