Lazio

Lazio, also called Latium, is an administrative region in central Italy. It is the country’s second most populous region and has the second-largest regional economy, after Lombardy, with over 5.7 million residents and a GDP exceeding €212 billion annually. Its capital is Rome, which also serves as Italy’s national capital. The region was once home to the Etruscan civilization and later became the heart of the Roman Republic, the Roman Empire, the Papal States, the Kingdom of Italy, and the Italian Republic. Lazio’s cultural heritage is extensive; many renowned artists and historical figures lived and worked in Rome, especially during the Italian Renaissance.

In ancient times, Lazio (Latium) covered only a small part of its modern area, stretching between the lower Tiber River, the Tyrrhenian Sea, the Monti Sabini, and the Pontine Marshes. After World War II and the fall of fascism, Lazio and Italy experienced rapid economic growth, particularly in Rome. Today, the region is a major hub for services, international trade, industry, public services, and tourism, supported by a dense transport network due to its central location on the Italian Peninsula and the presence of Rome.

The Italian name Lazio comes from the Latin *Latium*, the region of the Latins, who were the dominant group in ancient Rome’s multi-ethnic population, which also included Etruscans, Sabines, and other Italic peoples. Roman mythology says the Latins took their name from King Latinus. Another ancient myth claimed Lazio was where Saturn hid from Jupiter. A modern etymology links Lazio to the Latin word *latus*, meaning “wide,” referring to the flat landscape of the Roman Campagna—much of Lazio is indeed flat or rolling. The original lands of the Latins expanded into territories of neighboring Italic tribes such as the Samnites, Marsi, Hernici, Aequi, Aurunci, and Volsci. This larger area was still called Latium but was divided into *Latium adiectum* (New Latium) and *Latium Vetus* (Old Latium). The Tiber River formed Lazio’s northern border with Etruria.

Emperor Augustus united nearly all of modern Italy into a single political entity, Italia, divided into eleven regions. The part of today’s Lazio south of the Tiber—along with present-day Campania and the city of Naples—became Regio I (Latium et Campania). Modern Upper Lazio was part of Regio VII (Etruria), and today’s Province of Rieti belonged to Regio IV (Samnium). After the Gothic conquest of Italy in the late fifth century, Lazio became part of the Ostrogothic Kingdom. Following the Gothic War (535–554) and Byzantine conquest, the region came under the Eastern Roman Emperor as the Duchy of Rome. Prolonged wars against the Lombards weakened the area. In 728, the Donation of Sutri gave the Pope his first territory beyond the Duchy of Rome.

Power struggles between secular lords (baroni) and the Pope lasted until the mid-16th century. Pope Innocent III tried to strengthen his territorial authority by using Church representatives to govern Tuscia, Campagna, and Marittima, aiming to reduce the power of the Colonna family. Other popes followed suit. During the papacy’s exile in Avignon (1309–1377), feudal lords grew stronger due to the Pope’s absence. Small communes, especially Rome, opposed this, and Cola di Rienzo attempted to challenge ecclesiastical power. However, between 1353 and 1367, the papacy regained control of Lazio and the rest of the Papal States. From the mid-16th century, the papacy politically unified Lazio with the Papal States, making these territories provincial administrations of St. Peter’s estate, governed by appointees in Viterbo, Marittima and Campagna, and Frosinone.

Lazio was part of the short-lived Roman Republic, then became a puppet state of the First French Republic under Napoleon. It returned to the Papal States in October 1799. In 1809, it was annexed to the French Empire as the Department of Tibre, but was restored to papal control in 1815. On 20 September 1870, the capture of Rome—during the reign of Pope Pius IX and following France’s defeat at Sedan—completed Italian unification, and Lazio was incorporated into the Kingdom of Italy. In 1927, the province of Rieti, previously part of Umbria and Abruzzo, was added to Lazio. Towns in the region were devastated by the 2016 Central Italy earthquake.

Lazio covers 17,242 square kilometers (6,657 square miles). It borders Tuscany, Umbria, and Marche to the north; Abruzzo and Molise to the east; Campania to the south; and the Tyrrhenian Sea to the west. The terrain is mostly hilly (56%) and mountainous (26%), with plains (20%) along the coast and the Tiber valley. The coastline features sandy beaches, broken by the headlands of Cape Circeo (541 meters).