[Flavius]

so she forgot that whole Roman empire thingy

[FFranco]

And the risorgimento thingy too.

[Polybius]

so she forgot that whole Roman empire thingy

This is more of a Marsic Confederation thingy.

[Clemenza]

Nice, but the modern Italians are a bastard race only partially descended from the Roman empire. This idea that Italy has "always been a nation" was an invention of Mazzini's that nobody took too seriously until Mussolini shoved it down everyone's throats.

My "Italian" ancestors are actually a mixture of Greeks, Saracens, Phoenecians, Lombards, Romans, and Spaniards.