WORLD HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Rome’s republican government is one of the earliest examples of representative democracy in the world. Prior to the republic, Etruscan kings who lived nearby in central Italy ruled Rome.

Detailed explanation-2: -Amalfi, Gaeta and Venice in the 11th century were already autonomous maritime republics. Around 1100, Genoa, Pisa and Ancona emerged as independent maritime republics too: trade, shipbuilding and banking helped support their powerful navies in the Mediterranean in those medieval centuries.

Detailed explanation-3: -From roughly the 13th to 16th centuries, several Italian cities became wealthy and powerful enough to establish their own, independent governments, which we call city-states. Some of the first major city-states were port cities that acted as trade centers, like the republics of Pisa, Genoa, and Venice.

Detailed explanation-4: -Florence, where the Italian Renaissance began, was an independent republic.

Detailed explanation-5: -The Italian city-states. During the Renaissance, Italy was a collection of city-states, each with its own ruler-the Pope in Rome, the Medici family in Florence, the Doge in Venice, the Sforza family in Milan, the Este family in Ferrara, etc.