Roman Republic Declared

The Roman Republic (Italian: Repubblica Romana) was proclaimed on February 15, 1798 after Louis Alexandre Berthier, a general of Napoleon, had invaded the city of Rome on February 10.

The Roman Republic was a client republic under the French Directory composed of territory conquered from the Papal States. Pope Pius VI was exiled to France and died there in 1799. It immediately took the control of the other two former-papal revolutionary administrations, the Tiberina Republic and the Republic of Ancona. The Roman Republic was short-lived, as the Papal States were restored in October 1799.

The Roman Republic flag was a vertical tricolour black-white-red, taken from the French tricolour, as granted by Napoleon. It was governed by a clique of consuls, like the ancient Roman Republic. French forces had invaded the Papal States partly in revenge for the murder of French general Mathurin-Léonard Duphot in 1797.