Difference between revisions of "Italy"

<p> (Ἰταλία) </p> <p> The name was originally confined to the extreme southern point of the [[Italian]] peninsula. For the Greeks of the 5th cent. b.c. it denoted the tract along the shore of the Tarentine Gulf, as far as Metapontum, and thence across to the [[Gulf]] of Posidonia. By the time of [[Polybius]] the name had been extended to the whole peninsula, for he speaks of [[Hannibal]] crossing the Alps into Italy, and of the plains of the Padus as part of Italy ( <i> Hist. </i> ii. 14, iii. 39, 54). At a later time, it is true, Gallia Cisalpina was officially regarded as part of Caesar’s province, and therefore not strictly in Italy, which he did not enter till he crossed the Rubicon; but from the Augustan [[Age]] onward the word had its present-day meaning. [[Scarcely]] any country has more clearly-marked and obvious boundaries. </p> <p> The Latin language was inscribed upon the Cross of Christ, but none of the books of the NT were written in it. The founders of [[Christianity]] were not so greatly influenced by Italian as by Hebraic and Hellenic ideals. Nor did Italy herself dream that she had any kind of evangel for the East which she conquered. Her plain task was to give and maintain law and order everywhere, and her Imperial ideal certainly found its counterpart in the apostolic conception of a world-wide Church. But her own spiritual mission, so far as she was conscious of having one, was merely to be the apostle of Hellenism, of which she had for some centuries been the disciple. </p> <p> ‘The desire to become at least internally Hellenised, to become partakers of the manners and the culture, of the art and the science of Hellas, to be-in the footsteps of the great Macedonian-shield and sword of the Greeks of the East, and to be allowed further to civilise this East not after an Italian but after a Hellenic fashion-this desire pervades the later centuries of the [[Roman]] republic and the better times of the empire with a power and an ideality which are almost no less tragic than that political toil of the Hellenes failing to attain its goal’ (T. Mommsen, <i> The Provinces of the Roman Empire </i> 2, Eng. translation, 1909, i. 253). </p> <p> Some of the cities of Italy-certainly Rome and Puteoli, and probably others, though there is no definite information on the point-had felt the presence of [[Judaism]] before they were offered Christianity. [[Josephus]] mentions the [[Jewish]] colony of [[Puteoli]] in his story of the Jewish impostor who claimed to be [[Alexander]] the son of [[Herod]] (circa, about4 b.c.). ‘He was also no fortunate, upon landing, as to bring the Jews that were there under the same delusion’ ( <i> Ant. </i> xvii. xii. 1), and ‘he got very large presents’ from them ( <i> Bellum Judaicum (Josephus) </i> ii. vii. 1); but [[Augustus]] himself was not so easily deceived ( <i> Ant. </i> xvii. xii. 2). Over half a century later, the first Puteolan Christians, whose fellowship St. Paul enjoyed for a week on his way to Rome (&nbsp;Acts 28:14), were evidently drawn from that same Jewish community and its proselytes. The presence of a great Jewish colony in Rome, dating from the time when Pompey brought his prisoners of war from Jerusalem, is abundantly attested by Latin historians and poets. It is equally certain that they made many proselytes. The swindling of Fulvia, ‘a woman of great dignity, and one that had embraced the Jewish religion’ ( <i> Ant. </i> xviii. iii. 5), by another Jew of the baser type was the signal for an outburst against the whole colony in the time of [[Tiberius]] (Tac. <i> Ann. </i> ii. 85; Suet. <i> Tiber. </i> 36). According to &nbsp;Acts 18:2 [[Claudius]] went the length of expelling all the Jews from Rome (cf. Suet. <i> Claud. </i> 25). Even if his decree only amounted to the interdicting of their assemblies (Dio Cassius, lx. 6), this milder measure would doubtless cause a great exodus from the city. Some of the exiles merely emigrated to the neighbourhood, perhaps to Aricia (for the evidence sec E. Schürer, <i> History of the Jewish People (Eng. tr. of GJV).] </i> ii, ii. [1885] 238), but others went abroad. This was the occasion of the journey of [[Aquila]] and [[Priscilla]] ‘from Italy’ to [[Corinth]] (&nbsp;Acts 18:2). </p> <p> Italy was the destination of the prisoner Paul when he made his appeal to [[Caesar]] (&nbsp;Acts 27:1). The narrative of his journey from point to point-Caesarea, Myra, Melita, Puteoli, and then overland by the oldest and most famous of Roman roads, the <i> Via Appia </i> -illustrates the fact that ‘most of the realms of the ancient Roman Empire had better connections than ever afterwards or even now.’ Dangers could not be wholly avoided, but ‘travelling … was easy, swift, and secure to a degree unknown until the beginning of the nineteenth century’ (L. Friedländer, <i> Roman Life and [[Manners]] under the Early Empire </i> , 1908, i. 268). </p> <p> In &nbsp;Hebrews 13:24 ‘they of Italy’ (οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας) join the writer in sending salutations. οἱ ἀπό denotes persons who have come from the place indicated (cf. &nbsp;Matthew 15:1, &nbsp;Acts 6:9; &nbsp;Acts 10:23). It is a mistake to imagine that the writer was himself in Italy, and that he was thinking of the Italian [[Christians]] around him there. On the contrary, the phrase implies that the author was absent from and writing to Italy, while there were in his company natives of Italy who had embraced Christianity, and who desired to be remembered to their believing compatriots in some part of the home-land. It is not an equally safe, but still a plausible, conjecture that Italy-probably Rome-was the writer’s own home (see articleHebrews, [[Epistle]] to the). </p> <p> James Strahan. </p>

<p> Not mentioned in the Old Testament, unless under general terms, as Chittim, Isles of the sea. In the New Testament, &nbsp;Acts 18:2 &nbsp; 27:1,6 &nbsp; Hebrews 13:24 , it is chiefly of interest on account of ROME, ROMANS, which see. The Italian band, mentioned in &nbsp;Acts 10:1 , was probably a Roman cohort from Italy, stationed at Cesarea; so called to distinguish it from the other troops, which were drawn from [[Syria]] and the adjacent regions. </p>

<p> '''It'aly.''' This word is used in the New Testament, &nbsp;Acts 18:2; &nbsp;Acts 27:1; &nbsp;Hebrews 13:24, in the usual sense of the period, that is, in its true geographical sense, as denoting the whole natural peninsula, between the Alps and the Straits of Messina. </p>

<p> (Ι᾿ταλία , of uncertain etymology), the name of the country of which Rome was the capital (&nbsp;Acts 18:2; &nbsp;Acts 27:1; &nbsp;Acts 27:6; &nbsp;Hebrews 13:24). This, like most geographical names, was differently applied at different periods. In the earliest times the name "Italy" in cluded only the little peninsula of Culabrias (Strabo, 5, 1). The country now called Italy was then inhabited by a number of nations distinct in origin, language, and government, such as the Gauls, Ligurians, and Veneti on the north, and the Pelasgi, Sabines, Etrurians, etc., on the south. But, as the power of Rome advanced, these nations were successively annexed to the great state and the name "Italy" extended also, tin it came to be applied to the whole country south of the Alps, and Polybius seems to use it in this sense (1, 6; 2, 14). For the progress of the history of the world, see Smith's Dictionary of Classical Geography, s.v. From the time of the close of the republic it was employed as we employ it now, i.e. in its true geographical sense, as denoting the whole natural peninsula between the Alps and the Straits of Messina. In the New [[Testament]] it occurs three or, indeed, more correctly speaking, four times. In &nbsp;Acts 10:1, the Italian cohort at [[Caesarea]] (ἡ σπεῖρα ἡ καλουμένη Ι᾿ταλικη, A.V. Italian band"), consisting, as it doubtless did, of men recruited in Italy, illustrates the military relations of the imperial peninsula with the provinces. (See [[Army]]). </p> <p> In &nbsp;Acts 18:2, where we are told of the expulsion of Aquila and Priscilla with their compatriots ‘; from Italy," we are reminded of the large Jewish population which many authorities show that it contained. &nbsp;Acts 27:1, where the beginning of St. Paul's voyage ‘ to Italy' is mentioned, and the whole subsequent narrative. illustrate the trade which subsisted between the peninsula and other parts of the Mediterranean. Lastly, the words in &nbsp;Hebrews 13:24, "They of Italy (οἰ ἀπὸ τῆς Ιταλίας ) salute you," whatever they may prove for or against this being the region in which the letter was written (and the matter has been strongly argued both ways), are interesting as a specimen of the progress of Christianity in the West. A concise account of the divisions and history of ancient Italy may be found in Anthon's Class. Dict. s.v. Italia. (See [[Rome]]). </p>

<p> ''''' it´a ''''' - ''''' 51 ''''' ( Ἰταλία , <i> ''''' Italı́a ''''' </i> ): At first confined as a name to the extreme southern part of the Italian peninsula in the region now called Calabria, whence its application was gradually extended. In Greek usage of the 5th century bc, the name was applied to the coasts as far as Metapontum and Posidonia, being synonymous with Oenotria. The Oenotrians are represented as having assumed the name of Italians ( <i> Itali </i> ) from a legendary ruler Italus (Dionysius, i.12,35; Vergil, <i> Aen </i> . i.533). The extension of Roman authority seems to have given this name an ever-widening application, since it was used to designate their allies generally. As early as the time of Polybius the name Italy was sometimes employed as an appellation for all the country between the two seas (Tyrrhenian and Adriatic) and from the foot of the Alps to the Sicilian Straits (Polyb. i.6; ii.14; iii.39,54), although Cisalpine [[Gaul]] was not placed on a footing of complete equality with the peninsula as regards administration until shortly after the death of [[Julius]] Caesar. From the time of Augustus the term was used in practically its modern sense (Nissen, <i> Italische Landeskunde </i> , I, 57-87). </p> <p> The name Italy occurs 3 times in the New Testament: &nbsp;Acts 18:2 , Aquila "lately come from Italy," because of the expulsion of the Jews from Rome under Claudius; &nbsp;Acts 27:1 , the decision that Paul be sent to Italy; &nbsp;Hebrews 13:24 , salutation from those "of Italy." The adjective form is found in the appellation, "Italian band" ( <i> '''''cohors Italica''''' </i> , &nbsp;Acts 10:1 ). </p> <p> The history of ancient Italy, in so far as it falls within the scope of the present work, is treated under [[Rome]] (which see). </p>