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Countries of the World (Zaroni of some of the southern)

zaroni of some of the southern cities. They are slimly built, but strong and agile, and even among the peasantry both men and women are, as a rule, well formed and handsome. FINANCES, ETC. -The national finances are not in a good condition, and every year the expenditure largely exceeds the income. ARMY AND NAVY. -The army in 1888, including the local and active militia, had a total nominal strength of 2,590,172 men on the war footing. The force is divided into regular army in peace, 265,889, in war, 630,582; movable militia, 379,908; local militia, 1,313,793. The navy in 1888, including ships building, consisted of 228 vessels, manned by about 16,000 men; 21 of the ships are ironclads, several of the most powerful construction, the Duilio and Re Umberto being the leading vessels. There are also 15 torpedo vessels and 156 torpedo-boats. Naples is the chief naval and military port of the kingdom.

THE GREAT CITIES. - Pre-eminent above all other Italian cities stands Rome, the ancient mistress of the world, with its grand monuments and gorgeous palaces, its antiquities, and associations. Its origin is lost in the mist of antiquity, but fully 700 years before Christ there were fortified villages on 3 of the 7 hills, and the denizens were formed into something like a commonwealth for mutual defence against their powerful neighbors. Out of this mixture of Latins, Sabines, and Etruscans were born the Romans, who were ruled by kings, the last of whom belonged to the third of the tribes which went to make up the population of the city. This form of government lasted for about 250 years, when it was replaced by what has been called The Republic. Commencing at about 500 B. C., there were annually elected two officers sometimes called Praetors, but generally known as Consuls, who, in conjunction with the senate, managed the affairs of the State. The strife between patricians and plebeians, the latter seeking to acquire some share in the administration of affairs, led in time to many modifications in the system of government, the chief being the election of Tribunes, who specially guarded the interests of the plebeians, who were also made eligible to the consulate. The Gauls captured and destroyed the city about 390 B. C., but after this reverse Rome gradually grew in power until, two and a half centuries before the Christian era, she had extended her rule over nearly all of Italy, defeating the Gauls in the North, and the Carthaginians in Sicily. The varying fortunes of the Punic wars, which lasted for nearly two centuries, terminated, in spite of Hannibal's brilliant campaigns, in the victory of Rome and the annihilation of Carthage. The removal of this rival was swiftly followed by the conquest of Greece, Asia Minor, Spain, Macedonia, and Gaul. The Republic was practically at an end when the triumvirs Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus assumed control, and disappeared utterly when, after the assassination of Cæsar, Augustus became emperor, 30 B. C. Through all these mutations the city grew. Magnificent public edifices, palaces, and fortresses, public baths and aqueducts, amphitheatres, roads and bridges, on a scale till then unknown, were constructed, and while some have fallen into decay, there yet remain the Column of Trajan, the Arch of Titus, the magnificent ruins of the Colosseum, the aqueducts and the catacombs, to tell the glory of the Eternal City as it existed under the empire. Under Vespasian, A. D. 70, the city embraced a circuit of 13 m., and had a population of 2,000,000 souls. Rome degenerated rapidly under the later emperors, and when Constantine the Great formally transferred the seat of government of the empire to Byzantium (now Constantinople), the power of Rome was broken for ever. During the turbulent times which followed the downfall of the Western empire, and through the long night of the Dark Ages, the mighty city sank year by year to greater depths of degradation and decay, so that by the end of the 8th century it did not have more than from 12 to 20,000 inhabitants. With the rise of the Papal power, from the time of Leo IV. to the 14th century, Rome once more emerged from the obscurity into which it had fallen, and after a period of anarchy and neglect, during the time the Papal See was at Avignon, again rose in splendor. The city, which had been sacked by Lars Porsena and Brenno, and threatened by Hannibal, was stormed and pillaged by the Constable de Bourbon in 1528, but during the latter part of the 16th and the beginning of the 17th centuries regained some of its old glory. In 1798 it was occupied by the armies of the new French republic, and in 1808 by the troops of the Emperor Napoleon. The Pope was restored in 1814, and peace prevailed until 1848, when revolutionary movements were inaugurated, which resulted in the flight of the Pope and the establishment of a republic governed by a triumvirate composed of Mazzini, Saffi, and Armellini. Garibaldi, defended Rome for two months against the French army, but was compelled to surrender the city July 1, 1849, and the French occupation lasted until 1866-67. Garibaldi invaded the Papal States in the latter year, but was defeated at Mentana, Nov. 3, and the French retained a garrison at Civita Vecchia until 1870, when the Franco-Prussian war began. On Sept. 20, 1870, Rome was occupied by an Italian army after a brief resistance by the Papal Guards, the temporal sovereignty of the Pope was abolished, and Rome became the capital of United Italy.

Clement XI Innocent XIII Benedict XIII Clement XII Benedict XIV.

Clement XIII Clement XIV