During the Permian Period, 250 million years ago, the continents merged into a single land mass, known as Pangea. Fifty million years later, during the Triassic, Pangea began to break apart as the Tethys Sea split Laurasia (the northern continents) from Gondwanaland (the southern continents). The land that is now Italy moved southward as part of Africa.
The Tethys Sea reached its maximal extent during the Jurassic Period, some 150 million years ago. As it began to close, Africa moved northward, splitting away from the other Gondwanaland continents and, 50 million years ago, rammed into southern Europe. The leading point of this collision was Italy; as it was shoved into the Eurasian plate, the Alpine Orogeny began, lifting the Pyrenees, Alps and Carpathian Mountains. For now, Italy is part of the European Continent, separated from Africa by the Mediterranean, a remnant of the Tethys Sea.
It is interesting to realize that Italy was part of Africa three times longer than it has been part of Europe. Furthermore, if the closing of the Tethys had aborted, Italy would have been part of Ancient Egypt rather than the seat of the Roman Empire.
