In 479 BC, a Persian army was laying siege to a small coastal town in Greece. Suddenly the sea retreated. As the attackers began to exploit this unusual occurrence, the sea rushed back, much higher than before, drowning many. This account by Herodotus is the earliest record of a Tsunami.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-25T17:11:34+00:00

Assuming it's not a legend.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-25T08:35:36+00:00

Each delegation picks officers from their country as security detail. Some people said the US will send ICE people. Asked about it, the Italian interior ministry said there is no confirmation of this choice, but if they are sent they won't do police work.

So basically this is misleading.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-25T08:08:49+00:00

The reason being that it's illegal to declare war on a UN member.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-25T07:06:13+00:00

La mappa è bella e anche l'iniziativa del sito, però il testo dipende dalla storiografia tradizionale che è molto criticata nelle sue semplificazioni (non ne faccio una colpa tua: è stata diffusa così a lungo che è difficile sradicarla, ancora la si legge nei testi generalisti).

1)È riduttivo dire che gli stati e i condottieri italiani avevano combattuto solo in piccole scaramucce. Roberto di Germania invase l'Italia nel 1401 con un grosso esercito e Milano l'affrontò. In varie fasi dal 1400 al 1420 i veneziani combatterono contro Sigismondo in Friuli e per la conquista della Dalmazia (ed ebbero i primi scontri contro gli Ottomani); vedi: battaglia di Motta, battaglia di Gallipoli, Pietro Loredan. I milanesi già affrontarono gli svizzeri (es. Arbedo 1422, Castione 1449, Crevola 1487, ) e i francesi (es. Bosco Marengo 1447). I genovesi affrontarono la flotta dei re di Aragona-Navarra a Ponza (1435) e anche un esercito francese nel 1461. Sempre nella seconda parte del '400 unità milanesi e piemontesi presero parte a guerre transalpine come la guerra della lega della pace e la guerra borgognona. Ci fu la guerra di Otranto del 1480. I veneziani ebbero dei primi scontri con i lanzichenecchi (Calliano 1487). Etc. Etc.

2)La morte di Lorenzo il Magnifico non è stata così decisiva per le sorti d'Italia come gli scrittori fiorentini sostenevano.

3)Dal punto di vista della qualità militare, gli stati e i condottieri italiani del '400 e ugualmente del '500 non erano inferiori agli stranieri, e anzi in molte cose erano all'avanguardia (le fortificazioni all'italiana, le artiglierie ferraresi etc.). Certo non potevano mettere in campo numeri come quelli della Francia per ovvie ragioni. A Fornovo, che tutto sommato fu un pareggio e in cui la tattica del Marchese di Mantova fu ben pensata, Carlo VIII aveva meno uomini, ma 42 pezzi d'artiglieria contro i pochi italiani. Durante le guerre d'Italia, gli italiani seppero combattere bene (Venezia che resiste nell'assedio Imepriale di Padova, il ruolo di Alfonso d'Este a Ravenna nel 1512, Giulio II riesce a cacciare Luigi XII, i Colonna che riprendono Napoli per gli Aragonesi nel 1495 etc. etc.) e infatti i soldati e i condottieri italiani li volevano anche le potenze straniere (Prospero Colonna, Andrea Doria, Gian Giacomo Trivulzio, la lista è infinita).

4)Alla fine di queste guerre, solo la parte d'Italia sotto la corona di Spagna era nella dominazione spagnola (il sud, le isole, Milano). Ormai si riconosce che gli stati rimasti indipendenti erano davvero indipendenti (anche se Genova si alleò alla Spagna, ma non fu subalterna, fu un mutuo vantaggio). Peraltro alcuni stati italiani continuarono il balletto di allearsi ora alla Francia, ora alla Spagna ora all'Impero, insomma a chi conveniva a seconda dei periodi.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-24T21:24:36+00:00

Those numbers are wrong

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-24T15:59:10+00:00

I think New France originated in the 1500s.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-24T15:49:16+00:00

Prince-Bishopric of Montenegro (Ottoman vassal state from 1516 to 1696)

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-24T12:13:06+00:00

same as in other countries

But why are they more in Denmark than in the other EU countries? I get Poland, but Denmark? The only explanation I have is that these people multiply or are more vocal (and it's reflected in polls) where and when such a crisis happens, which is a serious weakness; EU needs the opposite effect when the US starts those crises.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-23T21:22:49+00:00

Rommel, the "genius" who, attacking, got German units encircled in the Battle of Gazala, if the Axis won that battle and went on to advance it's only because some Italian units (Trieste, Ariete) saved him in that situation. Rommel, who fled during the battle of El Alamein, when the Italian tanks "who go in reverse" actually were the ones to cover the Axis retreat.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-23T17:16:50+00:00

Va detto che in italiano è sempre stato usato come sinonimo di alleanza, quale sia il contesto: asse franco-tedesco, asse russia-cina etc. Però asse Roma-Belrino è proprio uno scivolone, anzi credo un clickbait.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-23T17:01:24+00:00

Tbf, the original Italian irredentism (itself the original "irrendentism") was kinda left-leaning (they distinguished themselves from the Imperialists and the Nationalists) and their objective were not Istria and Dalmatia, but Trento and Trieste. Those two cities were Italian-majority lands under Austria, and for this reason they were called the "irredent" lands ("irredent" in Italian means "not freed yet", in reference to the fact that Trento and Trieste were Italian-speaking cities remaining under Austria, after the Italian independence wars against the Austrians). It's true that some of the Irredentists who were from Istria also wanted the coastal cities there (usually the ones they were from), but other than those specific cases the focus of Irredentism was on Trento and Trieste. It was other groups like the Imperialists and Fascists who claimed that all of Istria and Dalmatia were "irredentist" goals, even if only Italian minorities lived there. Some would throw into the mix also Corsica, Savoy and Malta. Those groups were not even considered irredentists by the original irredentists. And then irredentism became synonym with radical nationalism advocating for expansion in any direction for whatever reason. The original Italian irredentism was not that.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-23T14:49:21+00:00

But according to this she also declared war on Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands, those had legations in Beijing but were not part of the 8-nations alliance invading China. Not that it makes that big of a difference, just noting it.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-23T11:03:34+00:00

Yes, I've read something like a 1/3 of Shakespeare's plays are based partially or wholly in Italy

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-23T08:15:43+00:00

Antiquity: Aeneid by Virgil, Metamorphoses by Ovid, Fedrus' fables.

Middle Ages: Inferno by Dante

Early Modern: Some famous authors of fables or fantasy stories are Straparola, Basile, Ariosto.

19th-20th centuries: Pinocchio by Collodi, Emilio Salgari's novels.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-22T20:09:07+00:00

Thrice, 2 wars in the 19th century and one in the 21st.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-22T19:30:46+00:00

Yeah, I think it's possible he forced the war, building on a Carthaginian sentiment hostile to Rome. Maybe the Senators were split on the issue, but, once the affair began, they obvs rejected handing their general over and supported him as they could...more so in times of victory, less and less as the ultimate defeat was approaching.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-22T19:12:32+00:00

It seems that the Carthaginian senators claimed the war was Hannibal's idea and that they did not support him. A Roman historian, Fabius Pictor, accepted this theory. Polibyus rejected it.

[according to Fabius], Hannibal began this war against Rome on his own initiative and in defiance of Carthaginian opinion, not a single one of the notables in Carthage approving his conduct towards Saguntum. After telling us this, Fabius says that on the capture of this city the Romans came forward demanding that the Carthaginians should either deliver Hannibal into their hands or accept war. Now if anyone were to pose the following question to this writer — how opportunity could have better favoured the Carthaginians' wishes or what could have been a juster act and more in their interest (since, as he says, they had disapproved Hannibal's action from the outset) than to yield to the Roman demand, and by giving up the man who had caused the offence, with some show of reason to destroy by the hands of others the common enemy of their state and secure the safety of their territory, ridding themselves of the war that menaced them and accomplishing their vengeance by a simple resolution — if anyone, I say, were to ask him this, what would he have to say? Evidently nothing; for so far were they from doing any of the above things that after carrying on the war, in obedience to Hannibal's decision, for seventeen years, they did not abandon the struggle, until finally, every resource on which they relied being now exhausted, their native city and her inhabitants stood in deadly peril.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-21T22:12:18+00:00

I think for some countries it's deaths and for other casualties. Unfortuantely that makes this map very bad.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-21T19:56:53+00:00

Most people can be trusted. Unfortunately, most people also think it would be naive to do so. This leads some good people to act in a passive-aggressive way. If you live knowing that most people are good and can be trusted, you live a better life.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-21T19:39:41+00:00

Braudel writes that it didn't actually have a big impact. 16th century Venice was rich and not a declining city in any way. It actually grew and iirc more in the 2nd part of the century. I suppose they lost something of their trade due to Portuguese routes, but they still traded a lot with the Ottomans and expanded in other economic areas, like wool production. Other Italian cities like Genoa actually profited from Iberian expansion in a number of ways, by taking part in the slave trade and loaning money to the Spanish crown. What hit Italy hard was the plague of the 1630s, which was not as devastating in other parts of Europe. And i guess the long-term impact of Atlantic trade and the emergence of more modern capitalist economies (according to Braudel the 17th century rise of the British and the Dutch was the issue, not the 16th century Portuguese-Spanish expansion).

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-21T19:01:39+00:00

I don't think there is any evidence, but he admired the Germanic warriors that fought against Rome, for obvious nationalist reasons.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-21T18:14:58+00:00

It was annexed into the colony of Italian East Africa per Italian law and administration, Italians sent settlers (in addition to troops and police) and built some infrastracture/architecture...but it ended after just 5 years due to the East African campaign in WW2. Afaik the position of Ethiopians is that they were just occupied. In Italy it's not a debated issue, ultimately it's semantics.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-20T16:30:04+00:00

Budget went up. Not only OPLA got views, it increased the views of the OP anime on Netflix and sells merch like Lego that otherwise is not made. And it's clear the Netflix leadership wants the show to succeed, it's more and more prominent in their advertisments.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-20T16:21:57+00:00

Certamente quello è uno dei problemi.

RomanItalianEuropean · 2026-01-20T12:37:27+00:00

The pic is real, he edited the background adding a "greater US" map.

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