The regiment is named for the region of Liguria and part of the Italian Army's infantry arm.

For its conduct in Egypt and Libya the regiment's III Battalion was awarded a Gold Medal of Military Valor.

[2] During World War I the Brigade "Liguria" fought on the Italian front, initially in 1915 along the Isonzo river in the East in the area of Monte Nero, however on 15 May 1916 Austro-Hungary commenced the Battle of Asiago and the brigade spent the rest of the war fighting on the Asiago plateau.

[4][5][3][2] In November and December 1917 the brigade aggressively defended the Meletta di Gallio and Monte Zomo, for which both regiments were awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor.

During the final battle of the war on the Italian front, the Battle of Vittorio Veneto in October 1918, the brigade attacked Austrian positions on Monte Corno and Monte Spil and once the Austrian lines had been breached advanced into Trentino, where it reached Rovereto by 4 November 1918.

In 1921 the 157th Infantry Regiment moved to Zadar in the newly conquered Province of Zara and was reduced to two battalions.

[2][8][9] At the outbreak of World War II the regiment consisted of a command, a command company, three fusilier battalions, a support weapons battery equipped with 65/17 infantry support guns, and a mortar company equipped with 81mm Mod.

When Italy entered the war on 10 June 1940, the Cirene was at Al Adam (now Tobruk Airport) in the East of Italian Libya.

From 9 September 1940 the Cirene participated in the Italian invasion of Egypt, which started the Western Desert campaign.

[2][6][7] For its conduct during the Western Desert campaign the President of Italy awarded on 7 December 1951 a Gold Medal of Military Valor to the III Battalion of the 157th Infantry Regiment "Cirene", while the division's two infantry regiment were each awarded a Silver Medal of Military Valor.