However, its origins as outlaws targeting random travellers would evolve vastly later on to become a form of a political resistance movement, especially from the 19th century onward.

[7] While this saved communities the trouble of maintaining their own policemen, this may have made the companies-at-arms more inclined to collude with their former brethren rather than destroy them.

[9] According to Marxist theoretician Nicola Zitara, Southern Italy experienced social unrest, especially among the lower classes, due to poor conditions and the fact that the unification of Italy had only benefited the land-owning bourgeoisie,[4] so many turned to brigandage in the mountains of Basilicata, Campania, Calabria and Abruzzo.

[10] Robberies by brigand bands were often accompanied by other acts of violence and vandalism, such as arsons, murders, rapes, kidnappings, extortions and crop burnings.

An indication of the number of deaths during the conflict, including killings and other damages caused by brigandage, can be found in "Result of Operations", signed by colonel Bariola of the 6th Military Department in Naples, for the first nine months of 1863:[14] 421 brigands had been killed in combat, 322 were shot by firing squad, 504 arrested and 250 surrendered.

Italians from southern Italy would also go on to play a key role in the ultra-nationalist Fascist movement, most notably the so-called 'philosopher of Fascism' Giovanni Gentile.