Army and Navy.—Recent statistics of the military and naval force of the kingdom of Italy give the following numbers: On July 1, 1875, the army comprised it total of 409,426, commanded by 13,694 officers, not included in the number given above. The staff numbered 1430; infantry, 220.799: depots, 25,965; bersaglieri or sharp-shooters, 37,402; cavalry, 34,106; artillery, 48.248; corps of engineers, 9,618; carbineers. 20,970; local troops, 1614; sanitary service, 3,217; divers establishments, 7,487. If we take into account the provincial militia and the reserve of the regular army, the total war-roll of Italy amounted in 1878 to 1,215,000 men. In Sept., 1876, the Italian fleet consisted of 47 war-vessels and 19 transports-66 in all, carrying 339 guns, with a force of 10,470 sailors and marines; besides 1075 officers of all grades.
Finances.—The revenue of the kingdom of Italy, for the financial vear 1877, was £55,936,400; the expenditure was £55,624,300, leaving a surplus of £312,100. The interest of the public debt payable in 1876 was no less than £19,753.830. • Railways, etc.—In 1877 Italy had 4,034 m. of railway in operation, besides 420 in construction. They were 3,010 post-offices, and about 49,000 m. of telegraphs.
Relt;yion.—The dominant form of religion of Italy is the Roman Catholic. The Protestants are chiefly in the Wa:densian valleys of Piedmont, and number only about 59,000. There are also 35,000 Jews. Political rather than theological reasons, how ever, before the abolition of the temporal power, brought the papacy into great dis repute among the progressive and national section of the country. Freedom of worship used to be denied to native Protestants by all the states except Piedmont; but since the late political changes of Italy, freedom of religious belief is encouraged by the govern ment. The Roman Catholic clergy are estimated at 7 in the 1000 of the entire popula tion. The church revenues of Italy have suffered considerable diminution, owing to the suppression of several orders, and the enforced sale of their lands by•government.
Educatiou.—The mass of the Italian people are incredibly illiterate; the primary elements of education, reading and writing, are by no means universal even among the better classes. A great• educational impulse, however, has been imparted to all the recently united states, in which new public and endowed schools are daily being inaugn rated. Normal schools, on the British principle, have been founded for the training of Italy's future teachers. The government has devoted to the cause of education a great part of the confiscated property of religious ordel's. Besides this, £600,000 is annually voted by parliament for education. The universities of Italy are numerous, many of them being of ancient date and European fame. There are in all 21 universities, of which 17 are supported by the state, and have near 10,000 students, the other four being provincial. The most largely attended are those of Naples (2,500 students in 1877),
Turin, Padua.. Pavia, Rome, Bologna, and Pisa.
History.—The ancient history of Italy will be more conveniently treated of under ROME; see also ETRURIA. UMBRIA, etc. We proceed to the dawn of modern history. The westeru Roman empire fell before a mixed horde of barbarous mercenaries, chiefly composed of the Heruli, who proclaimed their leader, Orloacer, king of Italy (470 A.D.). After 13 years of military despotism he was slain, and his followers vanquished by the Ostrogoths, led by their great king Theodoric, The Ostrogoths (see Corns), in their turn, were vanquished (552 A.D ); and Italy was then governed by an &unit, or dele gate of the emperor of Constantinople, whose seat of government was Ravenna. Narses, the first exarch, having been disgraced, in revenge invited the Lombards to invade Italy (508); and under their rule the ancient political system of northern Italy was super seded by the introduction of feudal and Teutonic institutions. The Lombards, in their turn, were conquered by Pepin (754) and Charlemagne (774), the latter of whom was crowned emperor of Italy. The Lombards, however, retained the great duchies of Benevento, Spoleto, etc., till the advent of the Normans. In 842 the Saracens invaded Italy. and took possession of many important places on the southeru coast, which they held till 1010, when they were driven out by the Normans. On the fall of the Carlo vingian dynasty (888), the crown of Italy fell to Berengarius I., chief of the Friuli, whose descendant, Berengarius II., did homage to Otho 1. of Germany as his lord paramount (951); and in 961 Otho depo'sed his vassal, and assumed sovereign rights over the Italian kingdom. From this period the chief towns of Italy rapidly emerged from their previous insignificance. A foremost object of Otho and his successors was the abasement of the papacy; and for a time these emperors successfully arrogated to themselves the right of nominating to the chair of St. Peter the candidate most attached to imperial rule. The accession of Konrad was the signal for various tumultuous ris ings of the Italians against their German rulers, who had grown the object of general detestation. Important feudal modifications during this reign tended still further to weaken the great feudal lords, and to exalt the inferior vassals and citizens. Under the reign of his successor, Henry III., we find the spirit of association, alike for offense or defense, waxing strong in Italy. The aggrandizement of the great Guelphic house of Este (q.v.), the blody wars of the investiture (q.v.), and the establishment of an ameliorated form of municipal government (1100), are the three most notable events that occurred under the Franconian dynasty.