Home to 61, 855, 120 people, Italy is a peninsular country in Southwestern Europe, sticking out into the

Mediterranean Sea. The first true civilization to appear in this region came when the Greeks were first
beginning to explore the Mediterranean, setting up small trading stops along the Italian coast. It is also
around this time that the first Etruscans, peoples who originated in the Anatolian region, started to found
villages in Central Italy. These people laid the foundations for the traditional Italian architecture the is
apparent today in their modern cities. These people became the foundation for Rome, one of the greatest
Empires to have existed in ancient times. The empire began from the city of the same name in Italy, and
began as an aristocracy, though it eventually turned to a Republic in 509 B.C.E. However, after many
decades of expansion over Europe, Africa, and Asia, the republic began to lose control, and was
eventually overthrown and various absolute emperors began to take hold, the most famous of who being
Julius Caesar. However, after the tyrant Caesars death, Emperor Augustus brought about the Pax
Romana, or Roman Peace, a time of artistic, literary, and scientific achievement. However, this ended in
180 C.E. with the death of the last of the Five Good Emperors, Marcus Aurelius. After his death, Rome
began to deline from its height. One of the most important events in history that happened during this
time was the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of Rome. For centuries, Christians had
been heavily persecuted by Rome, and their acceptance led in part to Christianity becoming a World
Religion. In 476 C.E., the Roman Empire split into the Eastern and Western halves, with the West
collapsing into many different weakened states. In Italy, many city states emerged, and although weak at
first (as was the rest of Europe), eventually became prominent trading destinations in the 1300s. The
Renaissance brought about many prominent Italian artists in particular, such as Leonardo DaVinci and
Michelangelo, but it also brought about prominent authors and scientists. Italian explorers also
participated in the Age of Exploration, although not as heavily as other European states. Although the city
states went through a weakened period because of the Protestant Reformation, eventually they recovered
when Napolean Bonaparte reunited them during his conquest of Europe and beyond. The state remained
united under a king until 1922, when Benito Mussolini led a riot in Rome and took single-handed control
of the government. When World War Two began, Mussolini allied Italy with the Axis Powers, but found
that overextending his reach to try to conquer Eastern Europe and North Africa led his rule to become
unstable, and he lost much of his land to the advancing Allies. After the war was over, the Italian states set
un a democracy, and have run their government on this system ever since.
Cannoli is perhaps one of the best known Italian desserts, originating in Sicily during the Middle
Ages. The introduction of sugar cane from Arab traders allowed for the cream inside of cannoli to be
made of cream cheese mixed with the sugar and ricotta cheese. The name stems from the Italian word
canna, which was used to reference the stalks of sugar cane, which the dough for cannoli crust was
wrapped around be get its shape. This dough is rolled very thin before wrapping, and is then fried to
achieve a crispy texture. These shells are filled with the cream mixture and topped with chocolate chips or
nuts, traditionally.