Lazio

Abstract

Among the regions of Central Italy, Lazio is no doubt the less homogenous territory and the one most lacking elements clearly defining its identity. From a geographical-administrative perspective, the historian Alberto Caracciolo called it a ‘“residual” area in between great historical regions’. On the one hand, to the north, it seems artificially separated from the Maremma area of southern Tuscany; to the east, the area around Rieti resembles the mountainous area of neighboring Abruzzi, while to the south, the provinces of Frosinone and Latina have much in common with the northern territories of Campania, and indeed once belonged in part to the Kingdom of Naples. Not to mention the dramatic unbalance created by the presence and power of the metropolis of Rome, which undermines any possible harmony, whether demographic, territorial or scenic.