#bluegiulia

While I agree with you in some things, there’s one thing you haven’t considered in my opinion. “Italy” is not only the Italy we know today. Leonardo wasn’t “Italian”, the Sforzas weren’t “Italian”, the Medici weren’t “italian”. And yet they were and they still are part of Italian culturale heritage and roots. So Nicky might not be Italian (and your opinion it totally valid) but official Italian language and official date of unification have nothing to do with being Italian...

I totally see your point! And of course, Italy now is more than only the unification of the geography and language. It’s the sum of all its parts and people and everything that came before. It’s a shared history. But it’s also the shared version of a history, that isn’t necessarily what actually happened and heavily influenced by the rise of nationalism in the 1800s and again in the 1900s. History is rewritten all the time.

But besides that, my argument is mostly that Nicky wasn’t there for 1000 of years of that shared history. He didn’t live through the same things as the country and its people. He was elsewhere in the world, kicking ass, saving people, being in love with Joe and spending time with Andy, Quynh and Booker.

So I’d say that he shares roots with Italy and still recognizes some things, but I don’t think he would feel Italian as such. Especially because nationalism as we currently know it isn’t something that always existed in the same way and with the same fervor.