Ancient Rome
The once-great ruler of the Mediterranean and grandfather to Italy and Romano. He's typically depicted with brown eyes (though early artwork colored them green), dark brown hair with two characteristic curly ahoge sprouting from either side—a trait his grandsons inherited. His skin is tanned, though the anime gave him a fairer complexion.
According to his official profile, he had plenty of "stupid" grandchildren who failed to live up to his legacy. Italy and Romano are his only confirmed descendants, though fans speculate Spain, France, and others might be related too. Ancient Rome was hands-on with Italy's upbringing and called him his favorite, developing a genuinely close bond. When he eventually died, Italy was shattered by it—so much so that he refused to become the new Roman Empire. Throughout the series, Italy speaks of him reverently as "Grandpa Rome" and clearly idolizes him. While Italy didn't quite reach his grandfather's heights, he did inherit his natural talents for trade and art, plus his charm and charisma.
Romano got the short end of the stick. Because Ancient Rome was focused on raising Italy, he kept his distance from Romano, who grew up feeling inferior and overshadowed. Romano became jealous—not just of losing their grandfather's attention to his younger brother, but because Italy seemed to inherit Rome's actual talents and, in Romano's view, even looked more like him. That said, it's been shown that Ancient Rome loved them both equally; in the manga, he made time to visit Romano from heaven just as he did Italy.
His closest companion was Germania, Holy Roman Empire's grandfather. They were once inseparable, but eventually became enemies. The exact details of their fall-out are murky, but Germania delivered the killing blow.
He's portrayed as a strong, handsome, and vibrant man—charming enough that he fell for both Egypt's and Greece's mothers simultaneously. The original manga showed him as an elderly man with a small mustache, but he was later redesigned as younger and more noble-looking. He was into the arts: painting, sculpture, music. He loved good food, beautiful women, and wasn't shy about it. Supposedly, he'd get genuinely excited whenever he spotted a strong man.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
