Italian History Trivia

1. Like many other nations, the COVID-19 pandemic hit Italy hard in 2020. In what region of Italy, in the city of Codogno (54 km from Milan), was the first outbreak of COVID-19 confirmed on February 21, 2020?

From Quiz Italian History from 2020-2022

Answer: Lombardy

The Italian government announced on February 21, 2020 that the town of Codogno in Lombardy had 14 confirmed cases of COVID-19 from residents that had not been traveling internationally. Administratively, Codogno is a part of the province of Lodi in the region of Lombardy. Codogno had a 2021 human population of 15,789 and on February 22, 2020, the city was quarantined in an effort to stop the spread of COVID-19.

From Quiz History of Naples

Answer: No one knows

The founding of Naples is somewhat murky and unclear. In mythology it was said to have been founded by Phaleros, one of the Argonauts who traveled with Jason to find the Golden Fleece, and the original settlement was called Phaleron. Historically, there is archeological evidence the area was involved in a major power struggle between the Greeks and Etruscans. The old city was called Palaipolis, and seemed to just have disappeared. Some theories historians have is that the city was destroyed in battle or the Greeks placed too much economic stress on the city to be the dominant hub in the area, and that Palaipolis simply collapsed financially and was abandoned. Neapolis was rebuilt some time afterward nearby where Palaipolis once stood, but slightly further inland.

From Quiz Pompeii and Circumstance

Answer: Italy

Pompeii was situated in southern Italy, and the remains of it are close to the city of Naples.

From Quiz The History of Milan

Answer: Mediolanum

Mediolanum was a somewhat common name in those days with dozens of them existing in Ancient Rome, though none as glorious as the one that would become Milan. Milan was originally founded by several Celtic tribes before it was taken by Rome in 222 B.C. It was made the capital of the Western Roman Empire in AD 286 on the orders of Diocletian but ruled by Maximian.

From Quiz The History of Venice

Answer: San Giacomo di Rialto

The city of Venice is believed to have been founded by Roman fishermen who were banned from their original cities. There is also some uncertainty about whether or not San Giacomo di Rialto actually existed in 421 as it was not mentioned in any surviving record from Venice until the 12th century. Nonetheless, those records determined that the church had been around for a time when they were written.

From Quiz The History of Florence

Answer: Soldiers

The area that became Florence was deemed the most fertile lands around the Arno River and Caesar reserved it for his best soldiers when they left service. Florence was set up in a grid-shaped pattern, much like how military camps were in those days. It was originally named Florentia before it was called Firenze, in Italian.

From Quiz Not Just Another Italian Quiz

Answer: Ethiopia

The Italian invasion of Ethiopia began in October of 1935. It was a brief war that is remembered in history as the second Italo-Abyssinian war.

From Quiz Italy's 150th Birthday

Answer: Victor Emmanuel II

Victor Emmanuel II of Savoy had been King of Sardinia (the Kingdom of Sardinia included Piedmont, Liguria, Nice, Savoy and Sardinia). Being the first King of Italy, why did he mantain the number two after his name? Probably because he considered the new state as a mere enlargement of the old one: it seems that he didn't even speak good Italian, using French on official occasions and Piedmontese dialect in everyday life. The Longobard Alboin was king of Italy in AD 568.

From Quiz History of Italy

Answer: Sack of Rome

In 1527 there was the sack of Rome by the mercenaries (the so-called "Lansquenets") of Charles V of Spain. As for Cristoforo Colombo(also known as Cristóbal Colón or Christopher Columbus), he died in 1506, while the Battle of Pavia (a continuation of "The Italian Wars" which began in 1494) took place in 1525, when Charles V defeated Francis I, King of France. Finally Michelangelo Buonarroti, one of the most inspired creators in the history of art, died in 1564.

From Quiz Medici Family

Answer: Banking

In the fifteenth century the Medicis were the richest bankers in Florence.

From Quiz Italian History from 2020-2022

Answer: Giuseppe Conte

Giuseppe Conte was born in 1964 and he served as Prime Minister of Italy as an independent. Conte's decision to impose a national lockdown of Italy had popular support but the economic impact of the decision was widely criticized.

From Quiz History of Naples

Answer: San Gennaro

San Gennaro, or St. Januarius, was a local bishop who was executed under the orders of Diocletian during the Great Persecution of Christians in 305. He was initially from a wealthy family and became a priest in a highly pagan area of Benevento, which was near Naples, at the age of fifteen. Although he had managed to avoid arrest for much of the Great Persecution, he was eventually captured when he went to visit his fellow Christians in prison. He was, according to legend, beheaded at the Solfatara crater in the Neapolitan commune of Pozzuoli. Also according to legend, Gennaro was supposed to be executed via wild beasts, but the beasts (sometimes stated to be bears) refused to eat him and left him alone.

From Quiz Pompeii and Circumstance

Answer: Vesuvius

The inhabitants of Pompeii did not know that Vesuvius was a volcano because it had not erupted for 1,800 years. People are still living very near to the volcano even though it erupted three times in the twentieth century, in 1906, 1908 and 1944.

From Quiz Shaky Italy

Answer: Apennines

Avezzano seems to have bad luck: it was repeatedly destroyed during barbaric invasions. The 1915 earthquake killed 10,000 in the town alone: tragically, many young males who survived were killed in WW1. During WW2, 70% of the town was destroyed in 19 Allied bombings and also suffered Nazi violence.

From Quiz The History of Milan

Answer: Righting past wrongs against Christians

Christianity had previously been legalized in the Edict of Toleration in 311 A.D. by the Roman Emperor Galerius. What that edict ignored, however, was the state and treatment of Christians within the empire. The Edict of Milan, which was agreed to by Constantine I and Licinius, granted a form of religious liberty to Christians and members of other religions. Constantine, although not yet a Christian, was fearful of the Christian God and many historians regard the Edict of Milan as a way to appease those fears rather than a genuine act of good faith. Among the things the edict granted was the return of previously seized property to Christians.

From Quiz The History of Venice

Answer: Exarch Paul

Exarch Paul, real name Paolo Lucio Anafesto, was elected as doge because he was seen as being the most capable person to defend Venice from its many invaders. Historians cannot find any conclusive evidence that Paolo Lucio Anafesto even existed during the 7th century. Some believe that he was more of a legendary character with roots and traits similar to an actual person. However, others believe in Exarch Paul's authenticity and say that records from Venice during this time period are few and far between, which doesn't prove or disprove anything. Either way, Anafesto is considered the first official Doge of Venice.

From Quiz The History of Florence

Answer: Goths

The Goths were led by the pagan King Radagaisus, who wanted to destroy Rome because of its Christian beliefs of its senators. The Goths were able to pass through the northern part of Italy with little problem until they reached Florence where over a third of the Goth soldiers were killed. Roman General Stilicho was able to save Florence just as it was about to surrender.

From Quiz Not Just Another Italian Quiz

Answer: He sent them to the galleys

He was particularly active in suppressing the Carbonari in the early 1820s and would-be revolutionaries in 1830-31. He was one of the most hated Italian rulers of his time.

From Quiz Italy's 150th Birthday

Answer: Turin

Turin was the Piedmontese capital and naturally became the first Italian capital (1861-1865). Venice and the Veneto region were annexed in 1866 after the "Third War of Independence". Rome was seized in 1870. Florence was used as capital from 1865-1871.

From Quiz History of Italy

Answer: 1878

Known to his subjects as "Il Re Galantuomo" (The Gentleman King), Vittorio Emanuele di Savoia died in 1878. He began his as King of Sardinia in 1849, his father having abdicated in his favour on the evening after the Novara disaster. On March 14, 1861, after unification, the Italian Parliament elected Vittorio Emanuele II King of Italy.

From Quiz Savoy Dynasty

Answer: Vittorio Emanuele II.

He retained his numeral because he thought his main allegiance was to the dynasty and not to the nation. Vittorio Emanuele I was King of Sardinia after the Napoleonic wars. Carlo Alberto was the first of the Carignano branch of the family and father of V. E. II. Umberto I was his son and heir.

From Quiz Italy's Colonial Past

Answer: China

Britain and France were the first two countries to be granted concessions in the city of Tianjin in northern China. The purpose was to facilitate trade as Tianjin was located on the Bohal Sea. Further concessions, which were basically designated areas of the city, were granted to Germany, USA, Russia and Japan, among others, with Italy's dating from 1902. Italy extended its region by claiming the concession previously held by Austria. China gradually reclaimed the concessions with Italy's (and Britain's) among the last to come to an end, in 1943. Japan was the only foreign power left, but that ended in 1945.

From Quiz Italian History from 2020-2022

Answer: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Luca Attanasio served as the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 2017 until he was murdered in 2021. An investigation did not conclusively determine who was behind the attempted kidnapping and murder that took Attanasio's life. The incident understandably caused the relationship between Italy and both the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda to be strained.

From Quiz History of Naples

Answer: Via aqueduct

After conquering Sicily, Byzantine General Belisarius set his sights on Naples. Belisarius believed his invasion of Naples would take minimum effort, but the city unexpectedly resisted and fought back. The Neapolitans and Ostrogoths initially had the upper hand, with the Byzantines suffering mass casualties and unable to enter the city. They found something of a secret passage in an unused aqueduct, however, which they enlarged to enter and then attacked Naples. The Byzantines quickly swept through the city and claimed it.

From Quiz Pompeii and Circumstance

Answer: Pliny the Younger

Pliny the Younger who was a lawyer, author and magistrate of Rome left an account of it in a letter to his friend Cornelius Tacitus. His uncle Pliny the elder was killed in the incident trying to rescue some friends by boat.

From Quiz Shaky Italy

Answer: Campania

Irpinia is a mountainous area of Campania, mainly in the province of Avellino. It's a rural area, and maybe the fact that peasants were in the fields when the quake happened, sleeping outside, saved many lives.

From Quiz The History of Venice

Answer: Pepin, King of Lombards

Charlemagne wanted to expand his lands to include Venice and sent Pepin, King of the Lombards, to lay siege it. However, the lagoons of Venice proved to be too much for Pepin, and his troops failed to make any ground in the city. Pepin died soon afterward, leaving Charlemagne to fight for Venice against Nicephorus, Emperor of Byzantium. The Lombards failure to capture Venice is significant because they had successfully taken nearby Ravenna in 751. With Ravenna in the hands of the Lombards, Byzantium was able to increase dealings and trade with Venice as it no longer had possession of Ravenna.

From Quiz The History of Florence

Answer: Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio translates to "Old Bridge" in English. There were shops and stalls built into it like most major bridges at the time. The Ponte Vecchio has been severely damaged and destroyed a few times by flooding, notably in 1117, 1333 and 1966.

From Quiz Not Just Another Italian Quiz

Answer: Emperor Augustus

Also known as Octavian before he took the throne, Emperor Augustus lived from 63 BC till AD 14.

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