Atop the Janiculum Hill (Gianicolo) stands this monument to Giuseppe Garibaldi, one of Italy’s “fathrers of the fatherland.”

It is interesting to note that Italy as we know it was not a unified country until the 19th century. From the end of the Holy Roman Empire, it had been a shifting collection of city-states and kingdoms. The Italian unification (Risorgimento) movement was a long process in the 19th century that ended with the capture of Rome on 20 September (XX Septembre) 1870 by the Italian army under the command of General Raffaele Cadorna, who breached the Aurelian Wall at Porta Pia.

While Garibaldi was not present during the capture of Rome, he was a central figure in many military campaigns that eventually led to the formation of a unified Italy. On the monument are the words: Roma o Morte (Rome or Death).