page_title: History of Corsica
section_title: Roman era
hierarchical_section_title: History of Corsica / Classical antiquity / Roman era
context_page_description: The history of Corsica goes back to antiquity, and was known to Herodotus, who described Phoenician habitation in the 6th century BCE. Etruscans and Carthaginians expelled the Phoenicians, and remained until the Romans arrived during the Punic Wars in 237 BCE. Vandals occupied it in 430 CE, followed by the Byzantine Empire a century later.
  Raided by various Germanic and other groups for two centuries, it was conquered in 774 by Charlemagne under the Holy Roman Empire, which fought for control against the Saracens. After a period of feudal anarchy, the island was transferred to the papacy, then to city states Pisa and Genoa, which retained control over it for five centuries, until the establishment of the Corsican Republic in 1755. The French gained control in the 1768 Treaty of Versailles. Corsica was briefly independent as a Kingdom in union with Great Britain after the French Revolution in 1789, with a viceroy and elected Parliament, but returned to French rule in 1796.
  Corsica strongly supported the allies in World War I, caring for wounded, and housing POWs. The poilus fought loyally and suffered great casualties.
context_section_description: The island was under Etruscan and Carthaginian influence until 237 BCE, when it was taken over by the Roman Republic. The Etruscans were confined to a few coastal settlements, such as Aléria, and the Carthaginians were strong on neighboring Sardinia. The Romans, however, had a profound influence, colonizing the entire coast, permeating inland and changing the unknown indigenous language to Latin. Corsica remained under Roman rule until its conquest by the Vandals in 430 CE. It was recovered by the Byzantine Empire in 522, adding a late-ancient Greek influence.
caption: Province of Corsica et Sardinia in the Roman Empire