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Florence was founded as a colony of the Etruscan city of Fiesole in about 200 BC, later becoming the Roman Florentia, a garrison town controlling the Via Flaminia. In the early 12th century the city became a free comune and by 1138 it was ruled by 12 consuls, assisted by the Council of One Hundred, a bunch of rich merchants. In 1207, due to intractable problems with faction fighting, the council was replaced by a foreign (and thus allegedly unbiased) governer, the podestà.
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Western Europe
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