Home of Caesar and Benito, Italy is a unique power on the board. It is more or less an island. It's fleets ultimately determine its end-game position and whether or not she can win.
Oddly enough, I have had the most success with Italy playing a two front war. Expanding east to Turkey and west to France will garnish fantastic results. Of course you need to make friends with Austria and at the very least a neutrality pact with Germany is a must.
Rob Hensley