The Capture of Rome (20 September 1870) was the final event of the long process of Italian unification known as the Risorgimento, marking both the final defeat of the Papal States under Pope Pius IX and the unification the Italian peninsula under King Victor Emmanuel II of the House of Savoy.The Capture of Rome ended the approximate 1,116 year reign (754 to 1870 CE) of the Papal States under the Holy See and is today widely memorialized throughout Italy with the Via XX Settembre street name in virtually every town of any size.