Figure 1.-- Melissa is a village in Calabria (southerstern Italy), the poorest area of Italy. Melissa located 840 feet above sea level. Although it is not far from the coast, it was not connected by any roads until 1960 and could only be reached on foot or by pack animal. The inhabitants lived off agriculture, although yiels were rlatively low and in the early 1950s, they still did not own the fields they cultivated. This photo, taken in the early 1950s, shows a child in the village streets during the summer. We can assume that he came from one of the poorest families. He is wearing only a pair of shorts that had surely been worn by many older brothers before him. His feet appear large for such a young child, suggesting that he has probably never worn shoes, or very rarely. At the time, the Italian economic miracle was reshaping the country, but many rural villages were not yet impacted,especially in the south.

Italy is best known for its long boot-like 500-mile-long peninsula. A great deal of European history has transpired over those 500 miles. From Hannibal crossing the Alps (218 BC), Caesar crossing the Rubicon, an insignificant stra, but a powerful turning point in history (49 BC), the Vandals shockingly sacking Rome (455 AD), and the Allies landing in Calabria to begin he liberation of Europe (1943). Italy is one of two peninsular countries, the other being Korea. Their histories are very different. Korea wedged between China and Jpn has had a very constrained national life. The Italians (Romans) went on to conquer much of the known world. The Italian peninsula juts southeast from the European mainland into the Mediterranean Sea. The Italian peninsula is surely the most heavily populated and important in the world. And it means that the Italian people are closer to the sea than any non-insular people. Even so, they are not particularly known as a sea-going people, especially the Romans. There was one notable exception--the late middle ages leading up the great European voyages of discovery. This occupied during the Renaissance, the great intellectual awakening of Europe. Europeans got a taste for Asian goods during the Crusades. Italy became the primary route for goods from China and India through the Middle East to flow into Europe. Italians city states became rich with this maritime trade (Amalfi, Genoa, Palermo, Pisa, and Venice). As Europeans began thinking about a sea route to Asia, it was Italians navigators that had advanced nautical skills. One such Italian navigator of course was Christopher Columbus. The Apennine Mountains run the length of the peninsula from the Po Valley in the north forming the rugged backbone of the peninsula. Given Italy's narrow geography, there is only one great river--the Po in the nort. The eastward-flowing Po River forms an immense fertile valley valley (stretching 300 miles). The Po Valley is Italy's breadbasket and partly for this reason is where Italian industry developed in the modern era. In he north are the towering Alps cutting Italy off from the European mainland. Here the beautiful lake district is located as well as highest Alpine peaks. The Po Valley, however is not where Italian civilization first developed. We suspect the Po's more northerly location (compared to the Tigris/Euphrates and he Nile) were factors here. Rather civilization in Italy developed further south, first with the Etruscan and of course the Romans. Most Italian rivers are short, because the run from the mountains to the sea is so short, but the great Roman Republic an Empire developed one one of thoe river--the unexceptionl Tiber. The Italian boot terminates with Sicily which acts as a giant stopper in the Mediterranean, dividing it into western and eastern sectors. As so much of early Western history played out around the Mediterranean, Italy and Sicily were inevitably going to play major roles. here are four major regions of Italy: northern, central, southern, and island areas. Istria was once of importance. The Italian islands of Sicily and Sardinia in the west are the largest islands in the Mediterranean. It is on these and smaller islands that Italy emerges in recorded hitory with the appearance of Phonetician and Greek trading colonies. While this occurred on or off southern Italy, the south actually has inherent problems which has affected it's development in modern times. First there is nothing like the Pol Valley in the south. There are no extensive areas of flat arable land. Second the south is not well watered.

Navigate the Children in Hitory Website:
[About Us]
[Introduction] [Biographies] [Chronology] [Climatology] [Clothing] [Disease and Health] [Economics] [Freedom] [Geography] [History] [Human Nature] [Ideology] [Law]
[Nationalism] [Presidents] [Religion] [Royalty] [Science] [Social Class]
[Bibliographies] [Contributions] [FAQs] [Glossaries] [Images] [Links] [Registration] [Tools]
[Children in History Home]

Created: 12:13 AM 12/17/2025
Last updated: 12:13 AM 12/17/2025