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Dear Readers,
More March dates with an “Italian Connection”:

It was on March 17th, between (461 and 482 A.D.) that Bishop Patricius, who drummed the snakes out of Ireland (according to legend), and built hundreds of churches, died.
He was declared a Saint by the Pope and buried on Church grounds in Downpatrick, Ireland.
In March 1734, the first St. Patrick’s Day Parade in the U.S. was held in Boston, Massachusetts and ever since, most of us, in the U.S.A. associate March 17th with that son of Roman Citizens, Saint Patrick.

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Italian scholars, however, remember it was on March 17, 1861 that Italy became a Kingdom, with all the annexations and a population of twenty-two million. The King of Sardinia was replaced by the Kingdom of Italy.
On that Day in 1861, Victor Emanuel II became the King of Italy, and with minor changes, the Sardinian Constitution was also adopted in Italy. Venezia was annexed in 1866 and Rome, occupied in 1870 was made capitol in 1971.

Italy’s borders remained the same until 1918. It was the first time that Italy was united under and Italian ruler, Victor Emanuel II.
Italy and the Italians had many problems to be solved. D’Azeglio said: “We made Italy. Now we have to make Italians.”

The different cultures of the country made unity very difficult to achieve. The contrast was the greatest between the North and the South. Italy was for the most part agricultural and industry that existed was mostly in the North.

Speaking many different dialects and coming from seven different states, the Italians were hardly aware of their common culture. Mazzini himself acknowledged the failure of his “educators” to arouse people into unity. In name only, the unification of Italy was achieved by methods exhorted by Mazzini and Garibaldi.

Monetary diversity, weights, measures and standards of education played a big role in maintaining a political, economic and cultural autonomy in various states. Individualism was very strong. Only one element was a common legacy: Suffering under foreign rulers.

The Catholic Church was no help. The pope had lost his temporal powers when Rome was taken in 1970.
The Government of Italy tried to appease the pope by enacting laws guaranteeing the pope’s ownership of the Vatican, Lateran palaces and the Villa of Castel Gandolfo.

Pope Pius IX refused, shut himself in Vatican, called on foreign nations to intervene and forbade Catholics to vote or hold office in the government. Suffering and resentment, especially in the south was blamed on the liberals, and in 1876, many of the liberal parliament were voted out.
The majority now was deputies of the “Left.”

A new election was held and a great number of leftists were elected.
The expected tax reduction and reforms on the south did not take place, and Depretis was soon replaced by Cairoli, who served for only six months.

On January 8, 1878, Victor Emanuel II died, and was succeeded by Humbert I. Depretis took power again.
In July 1879, Cairoli came back to the power, but resigned after five months.
With all these seemingly helpless governments, Italy was left with very little respect at home and abroad. The expectation from the Left was gone. The parliament became a place for exchanging favors, many cabinets were formed to provide opportunities for themselves and their friends.

Depretis governed with the help from the Right and from the Left. There was very little distinction between the two parties. This came to be known as the era of “Transformismo”.

It lasted until 1915. The politics of Italy was manipulated by skilled politicians. Agostino Depretis, Francesco Crispi and Giovanni Giolitti governed with dictatorial powers.

They were artists in securing personal allegiances. This was the way Italy was ruled until 1915, when an earthquake killed 29000 in Central Italy. The British, French and Russians signed a secret treaty with Italy who agreed to enter the war on their side in return for territorial gain.

Italy then declared war on Austria and Ottoman Empire and the Austrians bombed Venice.
Italy joined Britain and France and declared was against Germany.

The U.S.A. declared war against Austria (1917) and during World War I, Italian soldiers fought on the side of the Allies until November 11, 1918 when the Armistice was declared and the war was over.

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Marcus Aurelius, Emperor of Rome, died on March 17th, in the year 180 A.D. at the age of sixty-one.
Early in his career he was hailed as the Leader of Rome’s “Thundering Legion.”

During a struggle to put down resistance in the province of Pannonia, a district between the Danube and the Alps, there was a battle in which the Roman armies were in serious danger of being overwhelmed.

A sudden storm of rain, hail and lightning completely confused the barbarians.
The emperor and his Romans attributed this miraculous storm to the timely intervention of Jupiter and hence forth were known as the “Thundering Legion” of Rome.

Marcus Aurelius instituted many popular reforms. Most notable of these were: The abolition of common baths for both sexes, taking additional steps to reform the morals of the matrons and young nobles which had grown lax, inflicting lighter than normal penalties upon those found guilty of crimes, and forcing the careful administration of justice in all cases.

After falling seriously ill for a lengthy time, he attempted to hasten his death by refraining from food or drink.

After six days of fasting he called all of his close friends to his bedside and said: “Grant me permission to leave, and I will bid you farewell.” He then covered his head with the bedclothes and took his last breath on March 17th, 180 A.D.

The death of Marcus Aurelius Antoninius was mourned throughout the empire. The senate and the people quickly acclaimed him god and his image was held in veneration for hundreds of years after his death.

So great was their love for him that anyone who could afford it and did not keep an image of Marcus Aurelius in their home was considered to be guilty of sacrilege.

 

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