Chapter 9 A maritime hegemony or land power created by geography

Geologically speaking, Italy is a colossal ruin, the remnant of a majestic plateau.This plateau was square, like the topography of Spain today, and then gradually sank (through millions of years, even the hardest rock will change), until finally disappeared in the stormy waves of the Mediterranean Sea. .What remains today is the Apennines, the easternmost corner of the ancient plateau that stretched from the valley of the Po to Calabria at the tip of the boot. Remnants of this prehistoric plateau are Corsica, Elba, Sardinia and Sicily.The peaks of this ancient plateau are incarnated by the ubiquitous islets in the Tyrrhenian Sea.When the entire plateau sinks into the sea, it must be a very tragic and tragic situation.However, this is a tragedy that happened 20 million years ago. At that time, the earth was suffering from the last volcanic eruption, and the smoke and dust of volcanic ash filled the whole world. The scene is described.The vicissitudes of the sea turned into mulberry fields, and the destruction of a mountain could bring unexpected blessings to the people who later lived on the Apennine Peninsula. Who would have expected that?Today, this country has a mild climate, superior geographical location and fertile land, all these unique conditions destined them to become an ancient power and one of the important areas for the development and dissemination of arts and sciences.

Greece is a giant palm extending to Asia, and the ancient civilizations of the Nile and Euphrates valleys are under her control, spreading them to other regions of the European continent.The Greeks themselves, however, had little contact with the continent of Europe, to which they owed their favor.Since Greece and Europe are separated by the entire Balkan Mountains, the country is like an isolated island. Although it is connected to the European continent, it is irrelevant. On the contrary, Italy can not only take advantage of the advantages of an island country surrounded by sea on three sides, but also gain the advantage of land advantages across the mountains of northern Europe.This point is often overlooked, and Italy is now and then compared with Spain and Greece.Spain and Greece do have many similarities.The Pyrenees and the Balkans are an insurmountable barrier between North and South.The Po River Plain in Italy, on the other hand, is like a salient point, cutting straight into the heart of Europe.Its northernmost city is at a higher latitude than Geneva and Lyon, and even on the same level as Bordeaux (a port city in southern France——Translator's Note) and Grenoble (a city in southeastern France—translated Note) Milan and Venice are also further north.And Florence (which unconsciously regards it as the center of Italy) is almost on the same latitude as Marseille.

In addition, although the Alps are much higher than the Pyrenees and the Balkans, their orientation provides a relatively convenient north-south communication channel.The Rhine and the Rhone, which run almost parallel to the northern frontier of Italy, pass through the Alps, and the valley streams which feed these two great rivers run perpendicular to the main course, so that a convenient and short cut to the plain of the Po is formed. up.The first people to prove the existence of this shortcut were Hannibal (Carthaginians, 247 BC-183 or 182 BC. One of the greatest ancient military commanders——Translator's Note) and his elephant The circus, except that their arrival dealt a heavy blow to the never suspicious Romans.

Relying on such a geographical advantage, Italy can play its dual functions: it dominates the Mediterranean world, acting as a maritime hegemony; it rules and oppresses European countries, acting as a land power. It was not until the center of the world was no longer the Mediterranean Sea, until the discovery of the New World of America, and until the Atlantic Ocean became a hub of commerce, trade and culture, that Italy's former advantages were lost.Due to the lack of coal and iron resources, it could not compete with the western industrial countries.However, in the long period of 1200 years, that is, from the founding of Rome in 753 BC until the 4th century AD, every inch of European land south of the Elbe and Danube has been under the rule and management of the Italians.

The idea of ​​law and order was first narrated by the Italians to those Germanic barbarian tribes migrating from Asia (who were now vying desperately for ownership of the hotly contested territories of Eastern Europe) and attested to the similarities with the Germanic barbarians. The more civilized life of the Italians themselves was far superior to the nomadic, squalid nomadic life of the nomads.Of course, relying on the excessive expropriation of other countries, it has accumulated wealth and wealth.However, when it collected exorbitant taxes, it also used part of it for the people, and the fate of these countries has since been changed.Even today, the inhabitants of Paris, Bucharest, Madrid, or Trevor bear a certain resemblance, both in appearance and in concept, to the Romans, and a more careful person visiting these places must be surprised. See this.And the shop signs in these places—he would also be amazed to find out—whether they were in French, Spanish, Romanian, or Portuguese, he could understand them.He quickly realized: "Oh, I'm in an old Roman colony. Like today's Philippines under the American umbrella, this place used to belong to Italy. The first houses here were built by Italian architects Yes, the first road here was paved by an Italian general, and the first commercial and trade regulations here were even written in the language of the central government—Italian.” Geographical advantages for this country— ——Belonging to the sea, but also attached to the mainland, he began to feel a lot of emotion.

Italy has conquered the entire known world by virtue of its fortunate geographical location.However, this position itself makes it inevitably bears some kind of flaw.Italy, an ancient civilization, not only has moonlit ruins, orange trees, mandolin concerts and farmers with distinctive personalities, but it is also a "volcanic country", famous for its volcanic eruptions.Italy, a country born in a volcanic eruption, is always in danger of being strangled to death by the "mother of life". Before being respectfully sent to the family grave, every Italian over the age of seventy (which is an easy task, because laughter and politeness are in the nature in Italy) has experienced at least three earthquakes in person, of which One big earthquake and two small earthquakes.Between 1905 and 1907 alone, the seismograph (the most reliable instrument, if only all instruments were as accurate as it) reported as many as 300 earthquakes. In 1908, an earthquake devastated all of Mexico.Here is some important information (a few figures are often more convincing than pages of words) about the earthquake record of Ischia island opposite Capri:

1228, 1302, 1762, 1796, 1805, 1812, 1827, 1828, 1834, 1841, 1851, 1852, 1863, 1864, 1867, 1874, 1875 , 1880, 1881, 1883, etc., these are the years when Ischia experienced earthquakes. The volcano erupted for millions of years, and the thick tuff gradually covered the vast land of Italy.Tuff is a soft rock made of volcanic ash that is ejected from a volcano during a volcanic eruption.Due to the high permeability of this volcanic tuff layer, it exerted a decisive influence on the formation of the mountainous topography of the entire peninsula.At least 4,000 square miles are covered in volcanic tuff, including the seven hills of Rome, formed from hardened volcanic ash.

Volcanic eruptions before human history have also deduced other geological formations, which make the soil layers of Italy very fragile.The Apennines run the length of the peninsula and divide it in two, and most of it is made of limestone.This type of limestone slides and sinks easily, overlying older, harder rock formations.The ancient Italians were very aware of this aspect, so even if there was no volcanic eruption, they would survey the land boundaries every 20 years, check the stone marks of every large estate in the country, and look at those marking the scope of each person's property. The markers are not staying in place.And for Italians today, whenever a road breaks, a railroad deforms, or a lovely village tumbles down a green hillside, they recognize that the land is moving again (mankind has learned this at a terrible price. this process).

With so many Italian villages perched high on hilltops, you'll be amazed when you visit the country.In order to be safe, the ancient Italians took refuge in the "Eagle's Nest".This is a common explanation.In fact, this is only a secondary factor.The most important factor is to avoid the tragedies destroyed by landslides, so they stay away from the wells in the valley and the traffic arteries below the mountain, and live on the very uncomfortable mountain top.Ancient geological rock formations are often exposed on the top of the mountain, which is a very solid surface that can provide permanent residence for Italians.The limestone surface on the hillside is soft and unsafe like quicksand.Therefore, those mountain villages look beautiful and picturesque from a distance, but once you live in them, you will feel very uncomfortable.

All this brings us into our contemplation of modern Italy.Unlike Greece, Italy is not in decline.With their wisdom and courage, this country is moving bravely towards a new goal.If it can persevere, the losses caused by its negligence for thousands of years will be made up, and even the former glory will be restored, and it is not a dream to return to the ranks of world powers. Italy was reunified in 1870.Once the Italians had driven their foreign rulers back to the other side of the Alps (where the invaders were from) and they had won their independence, the great and almost desperate struggle began--the restoration of the mountains and rivers.

They first put their attention on the land of fish and rice in the whole peninsula --- Po River Basin.The Po River is located near 45° north latitude. It is not long. If you look through the list of the lengths of rivers in the world, you will find that in Europe, only the Volga River is qualified to be among the best in the world.Although the Po is only 450 miles long, the Po Basin is not small, at 27,000 square miles, including both the sources of its tributaries and those that benefit from the Po.Although the Po River Basin is not as good as other big rivers, it also has its uniqueness. The navigable section of this big river accounts for five-sixths of its total length. At the same time, it is also a big river with the fastest expanding delta area.The Po advances 200 feet each year, and the delta expands to three-quarters of a square mile.Year after year, 1000 years from now, the delta will extend to the Istrian peninsula on the other side, and a seven-mile-wide embankment will separate it from the Adriatic Sea, creating an inland lake and surrounding Venice. A layer of hard material several feet thick covers the bed of the Po, due to the large amount of sediment carried by the Po into the sea, some of which is deposited on the bottom of the river.The Po River is rising day by day, causing floods, which will inevitably affect the surrounding areas. In order to prevent this from happening, residents on both sides of the Po River have begun to build dams and dikes since ancient Roman times. This project has not stopped until today. .The Po River is much higher than the surrounding plain as a result of this project.In some villages the dikes are thirty feet high, and the Po River reaches the roofs of the houses. There are also some famous places in the Po Valley.A long time ago (not so long ago, if geologically speaking), the plains of northern Italy were still part of the Adriatic, and the gorges of the Alps - those popular with summer tourists - were still narrow harbors , Just like the fjords of modern Norway-they were still canyons in ancient times, and they were only submerged by sea water later.These former bays were the outlets for meltwater from glaciers.At that time, most of Europe was still covered by glaciers. Of course, the area of ​​glaciers in the Alps was much larger than it is today.There are a lot of stones on the glacier, and they roll down from the glacier down the slope, forming the "glacier rock" or "moraine".When two glaciers collide, the two moraines merge into one, and the "central moraine" is formed.When the glacier finally melts into water, all that remains are these crushed rocks, known as the "ultimate moraine." These "ultimate moraines," which block the entire canyon from low to high, are similar to what's known in geology as beaver dykes.During the glacial period, a large amount of glacier meltwater infiltrated from the "ultimate moraine" and flowed downward. As the glacier gradually disappeared, the water became less and less, and the "ultimate moraine" was higher than the original water level. Many, a lake appeared here. All lakes in northern Italy are moraine lakes, such as Lake Maggiore, Lake Como and Lake Garda.When humans came out and then started irrigation projects, these moraine lakes became natural reservoirs.Come spring, the winter snow melts, and the moraine lakes hold all the excess water, which if combined in a lakeless valley creates a most destructive flash flood.After receiving meltwater from the glaciers, Lake Garda would rise 12 feet, and Lake Maggiore 15 feet, and could take more.A simple system of sluice gates can keep this water under control and open and close the sluice gates according to the needs of the water. The early inhabitants of the Po plain had learned how to take advantage of these blessed geographical advantages.They dug canals, connected the hundreds of small rivers that flowed into the Po River into a whole, and built a large number of dams.Today, more than 1,000 cubic meters of water flow through these canals per minute. The Po River Basin is also an ideal growing area for rice. In 1468, a Pisa businessman first introduced rice to the Po River Basin. So far, rice fields have become the most common landscape in the middle of the Po River Plain.Some other crops such as corn, hemp and sugar beets have also been introduced here.Although this plain receives less precipitation than the rest of the Italian peninsula, the Po plain is the most fertile in all of Italy. This region not only provides food to humans, but also contributes clothes to people.Mulberry is an essential plant for silkworm rearing. As early as the 9th century, the Byzantines (Byzantium was located in the east of the Roman Empire, and in 1453, the Turks captured Constantinople, its main city, and designated the city as Ottoman Turkey. The capital of the empire, Byzantium died) introduced Chinese mulberry trees to the Po River.The mulberry tree is afraid of the cold and loves the heat, and the Lombard region (the name comes from the Lombards, a Teutonic tribe who migrated from the mouth of the Elbe River and settled in the Po River Valley), that is, the Po River Plain, provides the most suitable growth environment for it.Today, there are about 500,000 people engaged in the silk industry in the Po River Plain, and the quality of the silk products they produce is far superior to similar products in China and Japan, the "hometown of silkworms".It's the kind of inconspicuous little bug who dedicates the most gorgeous costumes to human beings. The plain of the Po was undoubtedly very densely populated.However, the earliest townspeople in the Po valley kept a certain distance from the river.This is because their engineering technology at that time was not yet advanced enough to build stable dams. In addition, the swamps formed after the annual spring floods were also a heart problem for them.The only important city on the Po plain was Turin.This city used to be the seat of the Parliament of the Principality of Savoy in the early years, and now all of Italy is under its jurisdiction, and it also connects the passes to France and Switzerland (the pass to France is the pass of Sennes, which leads to the Rhone River Valley The most important is the St. Bernard Pass, which is famous for its dogs and abbeys).Turin is located on a relatively high terrain, so there is no need to worry about being flooded.Another city, Milan, is the capital of this region.Located between the Po River and the Alps, Milan is the meeting point of five important commercial routes (Gothard, Simplon, Klein St. Bernard, Maloja and Splügen).The oldest mountain pass on the border between Italy and Germany - the end of the Brenner Pass is the city of Verona at the foot of the Alps.Violin making family --- the hometown of the famous Stradivari, Guarneri and Amati families is Cremona on the banks of the Po River.As for Bodua, Modena, Ferrara and Bologna (seat of one of the oldest universities in Europe), they all kept the main artery of the Po at a safe distance, but at the same time depended on it for their prosperity. Venice and Ravenna, the two most romantic cities in ancient times, also had the same experience.Venice's traffic arteries are the rivers in the city. There are 157 rivers here, with a total length of 28 miles.Venice was originally a refuge for refugees.In order to avoid the disaster brought by the tide of Asian immigrants, those refugees left their hometowns at that time and chose the muddy land of the Po River Basin to settle.As soon as the refugees stepped into this watershed, they found that the salt flats in the Po River Basin were full of gold. As long as they were willing to pick it, they would be rich.As a result, the exclusive salt industry allowed these refugees to get rich quickly.In an instant, their thatched huts were replaced by marble palaces, and their fishing boats rivaled ships of war. For nearly three hundred years they were the most suave and most dignified and arrogant popes, emperors and sultans, and served as the colonial leaders of the whole civilized world.When Columbus discovered (of course he thought he had discovered) the road to India and came back safe and sound, when the news reached the commercial center of Rialto Island in Venice, people panicked and stocks and bonds all fell. 50 points.Broker prediction: Venice never recovered.This time, their prediction was really accurate.Venice's carefully guarded maritime trade routes were worthless, and all investments were thrown into the sea.Rapidly rising Lisbon and Seville replaced Venice as international warehouses, where European countries sourced spices and other Asian and American products.Venice, dressed in gold and silver, became the Paris of the eighteenth century, where a large number of playboys gathered here, and began to imitate the fashionable high society, or engage in some low-level sensual activities.The end came quietly with the beginning of the carnival.A detachment of Napoleon took the city.The flowing water is still there, and the beautiful scenery is still singing.It's just that the motor boats that appeared 20 years later greatly reduced the scenery of Venice. Ravenna is another city created by the mud and sand of the Po River.It was originally an unremarkable little harbor, and later a 6-mile-long silt separated it from the Adriatic Sea, and it also became an inland city. Dante and Byron lived here. Back then, I used to be wild and intoxicated here.In the 15th century, Ravenna was the capital of the Roman Empire, an important naval base with a large garrison, and the largest textile spindle and timber supply base at that time, so its status was even more important than New York today. Due to the growing power of the barbarians, as early as 404 AD, the Roman emperor believed that Rome was in danger.Therefore, in order to better protect themselves from barbarian raids, they moved their capital to the "sea city" Ravenna.Since then, Roman emperors and their descendants have ruled the city, lived and made love in the city, just like you see in those mosaics now.When you quietly admire those wonderful mosaics, you will see a woman with dark eyes.This woman was originally a dancer in the Constantinople circus, but later became the favorite concubine of the famous Roman emperor Justinian I, so she had a very holy name when she died——Theodore . The Goths eventually captured the city of Ravenna and made it the capital of their empire.The lagoon here was later flooded.Venice and the Pope began to vie for dominion over Ravenna, which later became the home of a poor tramp.The Florentine-born exile had made an important contribution to his hometown, but he was burned at the stake in return.In the famous pine forest outside the city of Ravenna, this man lived his life alone, and soon after his death, the ancient capital disappeared with him. A few more words about northern Italy.Resource shortage will be a permanent problem.Italy has no coal mines, but her hydropower resources are huge in the north.When the World War broke out, the water conservancy project here had just started construction.In the next 20 years, you will see how this cheap energy has grown enormously.Italians are notoriously industrious and frugal, making them dangerous competitors for countries rich in natural resources but poor in human resources. The Ligurian Alps are located in the west of the Po River Plain, between the Po River Valley and the Mediterranean Sea. It is the link between the Apennines and the real Alps.The southern part of the Ligurian Alps has become part of the famous Riviera seaside resort, since the cold winds from the north cannot hit at all.The Riviera seaside resorts are winter entertainment for all Europeans, or, more precisely, only for a subset of Europeans who can afford long-distance travel and expensive hotels.Genoa is the capital of this region.This is an important port in modern Italy, with the most majestic marble palace --- the ancient architectural relics built in the most glorious period when Genoa and Venice competed for colonial hegemony in the Near East. To the south of Genoa is the plain of the Arno River, which is a small plain.The Arno River rises from the mountains 25 miles northeast of Florence and flows through the center of Florence.Florence was on the main road leading to Rome in the Middle Ages, closely connecting European countries with the center of the Christian world, and fully exerting its superior commercial position, turning itself into a unique place in the entire Western world in the Middle Ages. financial center.The Medici family in Florence (they were doctors until the three pills on their coat of arms became the three golden balls in the pawnshop) were particularly good at business.The Medici family not only obtained the hereditary rule over the Tuscany region, but also made their hometown Florence the most splendid art center in the 15th and 16th centuries. Between 1865 and 1871, Florence was once the capital of the New Kingdom of Italy.Its importance has since declined, but it remains one of the most fascinating cities.One can see in Florence that if money is equal to taste, life must be well lived. The Arno River ran into the embrace of the sea after passing through one of the most fertile areas, but the two cities next to the river mouth did not leave much history worth tracing back.There is a famous leaning tower in Pisa. Because the architect was too careless when building the foundation, the leaning tower was tilted. However, it provided great convenience for Galileo to study the law of falling bodies.The other city was Livorno, which became, for unknown reasons, "Leghorn" in English speaking.The reason why it is not forgotten by people is that the famous British poet Shelley (romantic poet, 1792-1822. His works have a bright rhythm and harmonious rhyme. His representative works include the long poem "Queen Mab", the poetic drama "Liberated "Prometheus", "Ode to the Lark", etc. --- Translator's Note) drowned here in 1822. Leaving Livorno, winding south along the coast along the ancient carriage road (also a modern railway line), the tourists on the car can also take a quick look at Elba Island (Napoleon's exile, From here he made a sudden return to France to make a comeback, but soon found himself on the road to Waterloo).Going on, you will be in the plain of the Tiber River.In Italian, the Tiber River is also known as the Tevere River.The river is slow and murky.It is reminiscent of the Chicago River, but not as wide as the Chicago River, and it is reminiscent of the Spree River in Berlin, but not as clear as the Spree River.The Sabine Mountains are the birthplace of the Tiber River, and the earliest marriage robbery of the Romans took place in this mountainous area.In prehistoric times, the mouth of the Tiber River was only 12 miles away from the present site of Rome, and now the mouth of the Tiber is 2 miles further forward.The Tiber, like the Po, carries a large amount of sediment, but the difference between the Tiber plain and the Arno plain is enormous.Although smaller, the plain of the Arno was richer and more alive than the plain of the Tiber, while the vast plain of the Tiber was barren and desolate and the "origin" of disease.The word "malaria" in English was coined by medieval settlers who lived on the plain of the Tiber River.They believe that "dirty air" is the culprit that makes people suffer from fever and have high fever all year round.To avoid contracting this dreadful disease, the Tiberians shut their doors and windows as soon as the sun went down, making their houses airtight; but this precaution has a serious drawback, which is that the small Mosquitoes also stayed in the house.But 30 years ago (around 1900), people realized the relationship between mosquitoes and malaria, so humans don't have to laugh at the ignorance of their ancestors. In the era of the Roman Empire, after this flat plain, known as the swamp of the famous Campagna, was drained, the population gradually became denser.Immediately after the Roman police disappeared, piracy flourished throughout the Mediterranean.The preferred target of the pirates was the Roman Great Plain, which faced the Tyrrhenian Sea directly and had almost no shelter.As a result, the village was destroyed, a large number of farmlands were abandoned, the drains were abandoned and useless, and malaria mosquitoes were rampant in a stagnant pool.Throughout the Middle Ages and even thirty years ago, the area from the mouth of the Tiber to the Pentine marshes near Mount Circeo was avoided, detoured, or galloped by. It is strange that the most important city of the ancient world should have been built in such a plague-ravaged region.Why on earth is this? Also, why was St. Petersburg built on a swamp, and thousands of people lost their lives in order to drain the sewage there? Why would people build Madrid on the plateau of the world? Why is Paris located in a remote valley at the bottom of a basin, soaked in rain all year round? I can't answer.Either by chance or out of greed.Maybe it was chance and greed — or political foresight that involved many mistakes — all together.I have no way of knowing.This is not a philosophical work.Don't bother with it! In short, Rome was built on places like Rome.Despite the unhealthy air, sweltering summers, cold winters, and inaccessible transportation, the city catapulted into being the capital of a world empire and the shrine of a global religion.How can one expect a simple explanation under such circumstances!There will be thousands of explanations, and they are never repeated and interrelated, but they are not explained in this work, because at least three works as thick as this work must be written to finally find the answer to the question. I probably have too much prejudice against Rome, a city known as the Immortal City in the Eastern Hemisphere. No one hates it more than me, so I won’t spend more words here.This is mainly because of my rebellious ancestors.They had a deep animosity with Rome, with whom they were at odds from 50 BC to 1650 AD.Standing on the huge ruins of the ancient Roman Conference Square, with so many dead, I should have expressed my condolences. However, what I saw were some hooligans and villains pretending to be generals and party leaders. The entire continent of Europe and most of Asia and Africa.Indeed, they left a few avenues in those districts, and these avenues seemed to be their permanent excuse for trying to erase the heinous crimes they committed there.I should feel a sense of awe and admiration before the cathedral commemorating the martyrs and St. Peter, but I deeply regret that this is just a church that is neither beautiful nor charming, but a little larger than its kind , but it wasted countless dollars.I admire the harmony of Florence and Venice, and I admire the coordination of Genoa.Of course, I know that I'm the only one who thinks this way.Everyone who has achieved something, such as Petrarch (Italian poet, 1304-1374. The great representative of Renaissance humanism——Translator's Note), Goethe, saw Bramante (Italian , about 1444-1514, when the architects of the Renaissance——Translator’s Note) domes, they all sprinkled a piece of sadness.Let them go, I don't want to spoil your appreciation of the city, go see for yourself.Rome has been the capital of the Kingdom of Italy since 1871, and the Vatican is a city within a city. September 1870 was the day of catastrophe for the Vatican --- the country of the Pope.On this day, the army of the Kingdom of Italy marched into the Vatican and issued a decree announcing that the Vatican City would be governed by Rome from then on, and the absolute rule of the Pope in the Vatican was cancelled.It was not until 1930 that the Vatican City was returned to the Pope, and the supremacy that the Pope had deprived of in September 1870 was restored. Modern Rome has almost no industrial estate.With just a few battered Roman-era ruins and plenty of well-dressed uniforms, its central street is reminiscent of American Philadelphia. We then proceeded to another city, a curious mixture of geography and history, with all kinds of natural advantages, which is by far the most densely populated area in the whole peninsula.However, we will be puzzled once again: why did this city not replace Rome on the course of a small dry river? Naples is built on the most fertile land on the west coast of Italy, and is at the forefront of a fine harbor.Naples has a longer history as a city than Rome.The earliest founders of Naples were Greeks.The Greeks first lived on the island of Ischia, which was kept at a safe distance from the mainland, in order to conduct commerce with the dangerous Apennine tribes, but Ischia was not very safe either, because it was always overhead. The wrath of the volcano hangs.The Greeks had to move to the mainland.As friction inevitably arose among the settlers (their tempers were very fiery and irritable because of the exile and the wanton bullying of the greedy governors), finally there was a civil strife which destroyed three or four settlements in the strife (as in the U.S. The same as when the country was founded), so a group of new immigrants started from scratch and built a city.The city was called "New City" or "Napolis" by them, and later the name gradually evolved into "Napoli" or "Naples" in English. When Naples developed into a prosperous commercial center, Rome was still a small village of shepherds!But those shepherds must have possessed genuine administrative genius, since Naples had been "allied" with Rome in the fourth century BC. "Alliance" is just a polite word that sounds more comfortable, but it is actually the same thing as "surrender".Since then Naples has been reduced to a second-rate city, later occupied by barbarians, and finally, it fell into the hands of the Spanish descendants of the Bourbon royal family, whose rule has long been synonymous with shameful tyranny and the suppression of free thought. up. Even so, the city is one of the most densely populated cities on the European continent.How do these people survive? No one knows, and no one cares.It wasn't until the cholera epidemic in Naples in 1884 that the Kingdom of Italy had to clean up its houses, and they did it with both sternness and cleverness. The beautiful Mount Vesuvius is a close neighbor of this wonderful city.Of all known volcanoes, the eruption of Vesuvius was the cleanest and most methodical.Many beautiful small villages surround this 4,000-foot active volcano, and the villages are rich in a unique and famous spirit called "Tears of Christ".These villages have been around since ancient Roman times.Why not? Vesuvius was an extinct volcano at that time. In human memory, it has not erupted for nearly 1,000 years. Only in AD 63, there was a small tremor underground, but in this Italian city Country, this small tremor is nothing at all. But 16 years later, the whole world was shocked by it.Within two days, magma and volcanic ash had buried Hygrinium, Pompeii, and a smaller city deep beneath the surface, forever disappearing from the surface.从那以后，维苏威火山并未“死”去的种种迹象至少每100年就会显露出来。浓烟不断地从比原来高了1500英尺的新火山口冒出来。根据1631、1712、1737、1754、1779、1794、1806、1831、1855、1872、1906等这过去300年的统计资料表明，那不勒斯成为庞贝城第二也是有可能的。 从那不勒斯南下，就到了卡拉布里亚地区。这一地区饱经偏远与荒僻的风霜。尽管有铁路同北方相连，但是卡拉布里亚沿海地区却是疟疾横行之地，中部地区花岗岩遍布，当地的农业水平还是古罗马共和国时代的水平。 把卡拉布里亚区与西西里岛分隔开来的是一道狭窄的海峡———墨西拿海峡。这条海峡尽管只有一英里多宽，但在古代却以两个大旋涡而著称，一个大旋涡名叫希萨瓦(六头女妖)，另一个叫卡里布迪斯。据说，假如航船稍稍偏离了航道半码，它们就会被这两个大旋涡吞没进去。对大旋涡的恐惧使我们看到了古代航海者的无奈，而现在的机动船能够轻松地从这些大旋涡的中心穿过，根本无需去考虑水流的方向。 因为占据了优越的地理位置，西西里岛自然而然地成为了古代世界的中心。这里的气候也很温和。因此，西西里岛物产丰富，人口稠密。但也同那不勒斯一样，由于西西里人的生活太轻松、太优裕、太舒适，所以，在过去的两千多年里，面对外强的种种压迫，西西里人一直默默地忍受着。在结束了腓尼基人、希腊人、迦太基人(他们的居住地是100英里之外的非洲海岸)、汪达尔人、哥特人、阿拉伯人、诺曼人、法兰西人和以这个快乐小岛命名的120位王子、82位公爵、129位侯爵、28位伯爵及356位男爵对这个岛的欺凌与压迫之后，西西里人就着手对他们那些被埃特纳火山震塌的房屋加以修复。这次1908年的火山喷发彻底摧毁了墨西拿这个西西里岛最重要的城市，丧生者大约有75000人。至今，人们对这次火山喷发仍然记忆犹新。 还要在此对马耳他带一笔，虽然在政治上它并不从属于意大利，但是对西西里来说，马耳他的作用就如同它的一个海上郊区。这个富饶的小岛正好处在西西里与非洲海岸中间，是从欧洲经苏伊士运河前往亚洲的海上商道的咽喉所在。十字军失败之后，马耳他岛就成了圣约翰骑士的献礼，从此以后，这些人就自称为马耳他骑士（1530年，马耳他被割让给了医院骑士团，这是一个宗教军事组织，又称耶路撒冷圣约翰骑士团）。1798年，拿破仑在远征埃及途中顺路就把马耳他岛占领了。他想先把埃及和阿拉伯占领，并最终实现他的梦想，就是把英国人从印度赶出去(这是一个天才的构想，但最终还是失败了，因为他未料到沙漠会如此浩瀚无边)。两年之后，英国人借口就把马耳他岛夺去了，并从此赖在了这个岛上。意大利人为此悔恨交加，而马耳他人却满不在乎，因为如果是他们自己管理，这个岛绝不会像今天这样富庶。 因为意大利东海岸并不重要，所以这里没有说这个地区。首先，大规模的城镇在这里根本建立不起来，因为亚平宁山脉一直延伸至海滩上。另外，这里的贸易也不发达，这是由于亚得里亚海岸山崖陡峭，不适宜居住。从北方的里米尼至南方的布林迪西(邮船从这里出发前往非洲和印度)，中间无任何重要的港口。 阿普利亚是意大利的“靴跟”。同卡拉布里亚一样，阿普利亚地区也备尝远离文明之苦痛，而且，它的农业水平也还处在汉尼拔统治时期的水平。在汉尼拔统治时，他们苦苦等待迦太基人的援助，足足等了12年，可迦太基人最终没有过来支援。 塔兰托，这个世界上最好的天然良港就在阿普利亚地区，可是，它却招徕不了客人。在阿普利亚人语言中，一种剧毒蜘蛛和一种舞蹈的名字也叫“塔兰托”，古人认为，毒蜘蛛咬伤的人睡着后进入致命的昏迷状态，而这种塔兰托舞蹈就能够防止这种状态出现。 地理分布因世界大战而变得更加复杂。说到现代的意大利，伊斯特拉半岛是无法绕开的，这个半岛是对意大利人在大战中倒戈的奖励。的里雅斯特昔日曾是奥匈帝国的重要出口港，而如今因为丧失了内地贸易供应区，这个港口就渐渐衰落下去了。而阜姆港（阜姆，古地名，现为克罗地亚一个港口城市里耶卡———译者注）隐藏在瓜尔内罗湾的最里面，它从前还是哈布斯堡家族的产业。由于整个亚得里亚海岸再无其他优良的港口，因此对日耳曼人来说，阜姆港就已是一个很不错的对外窗口了。意大利人一直为这个港口的归属权争吵不休，这只是由于害怕阜姆会成为的里雅斯特港的竞争对手。意大利人要求把这个港口划给他们，但意大利的要求被《凡尔赛和约》缔约国各方政要拒绝了，这时，意大利人就干脆去抢。更准确地说，是他们大名鼎鼎的作家兼诗人邓南遮，这个无赖为意大利人占领了这个港口。于是，协约国不得不先把阜姆港定为一个“自由港”，接着，再在南斯拉夫与意大利的谈判时间上一再拖延，最终把阜姆港割让给了意大利人。 这一章只有撒丁岛没有说了。撒丁岛真大，但它的地理位置很偏远，人口也稀少，所以，它的存在常常被人们忘记了。然而，撒丁岛是欧洲的第六大岛屿，面积达10000平方英里。撒丁岛与亚平宁山一脉相承，它就是亚平宁山这座史前山脉的最远端。撒丁岛完全背靠大陆，它的西海岸有天然良港，而东海岸却布满了悬崖峭壁，面目狰狞，没有一个像样的港口。在意大利过去的200年历史中，撒丁岛扮演了一个有趣的角色。1708年之前，撒丁岛是西班牙人的，之后，它为奥地利人所占领。1720年，奥地利人用撒丁岛去换西西里岛，而萨瓦公爵是当时的西西里岛大公，他的公国首府是都灵，位于波河流域上。撒丁岛到手之后，萨瓦公爵就骄傲地自称为撒丁国王(从公爵至国王是晋升的关键)，而这个以撒丁岛命名的王国渐渐地发展成了现代的意大利王国，但10万个意大利人没见过撒丁岛的人倒有99999个。