I mean, up until the '50s we didn't even speak the same language... every region had their own language (Italians called them "dialect", but they're in fact different langauges). Then television came and unified the language (standard Italian is just the dialect of Tuscany).
Italy is a very young country. Sure, the Ancient Romans unified the whole Europe, but Italy has only became a nation in 1861. Pretty young country if you ask me.