the initial important figure in the development of italian nationalism was giuseppe mazzini, who became a nationalist in the 1820s. in his political career, mazzini held as objectives the liberation of italy from the austrian occupation, indirect control by austria, princely despotism, aristocratic privilege, and clerical authority. mazzini was captivated by ancient rome that he considered the "temple of humanity" and sought to establish a united italy as a "third rome" that emphasized roman spiritual values that italian nationalists claimed were preserved by the catholic church. mazzini and italian nationalists in general promoted the concept of "romanità" (the romanness), which claimed that roman culture made invaluable contributions to the italian and western civilization. since the 1820s, mazzini supported a revolution to create a utopia of an ideal italian republic based in rome. mazzini formed revolutionary patriotic young italy society in 1832. upon young italy breaking apart in the 1830s, mazzini reconstituted it in 1839 with the intention to gain the support of workers' groups. however, at the time mazzini was hostile to socialism due to his belief that all classes needed to be united in the cause of creating a united italy rather than divided against each other.