What did government in the italian peninsula look like in 1855?
a. each territory had a separate government, but all were controlled by either austria or the papacy.
b. the present day nation of italy was ruled under as one, under the monarchy of the kingdom of italy.
c. almost all of italy was under the control of prussia, who was in conflict with papacy for control of the entire peninsula.
d. the southern half was under the sole control of austria, while the northern half was under the sole control of papacy.

The Italian peninsula's government was controlled by  either Austria or the papacy. Ultimately, this arrangement had to change when Prussia defeated Austria in 1866, and the latter had to concede Venetia in the name of Italy's unification. so the answer is a

the passage of a strict fugitive slave law

the romans were initially interested in expansion via sicily (which at that time was a cultural melting pot), part of which lay under carthaginian control. at the start of the first punic war (264-241 bc), carthage was the dominant power of the western mediterranean, with an extensive maritime empire