The European country of Italy has been inhabited by humans since at least 850,000 years ago. Since classical antiquity, ancient Etruscans, various Italic peoples, Celts, Magna Graecia colonists, and other ancient peoples have inhabited the Italian Peninsula.
Petroglyph in Valcamonica, Lombardy, the largest collection of prehistoric petroglyphs in the world (10th millennium BC)
The Sassi cave houses of Matera are believed to be among the first human settlements in Italy, dating back to the Paleolithic.
Venus of Savignano
Ötzi, a natural mummy dating from the 4th millennium BC
The Italian city-states were numerous political and independent territorial entities that existed in the Italian Peninsula from antiquity to the formation of the Kingdom of Italy in the late 19th century.
Venice was one of the most important Italian city-states
Florence was one of the most important Italian city-states
Portrait of the Italian Luca Pacioli, painted by Jacopo de' Barbari, 1495, (Museo di Capodimonte). Pacioli is regarded as the Father of Accounting.
The defence of the Carroccio during the battle of Legnano (1176) by Amos Cassioli (1832–1891)