The real history of pizza starts in Italy. Or Greece. Perhaps Egypt? There are good arguments for each, depending on how we define pizza. Starting with the loose yet scientific definition of "some kind of flat bread with stuff on it," we know that pizza dates back to at least the 1st Century B.C.
Even earlier (circa 500 B.C.), Persian soldiers baked a flatbread on their shields which they then covered with cheese and dates. I think, however, that if I went with this theory and walked around saying "pizza was invented in Iran," I'd be starting arguments that I'd rather not have.
But does it count as a kind of pizza if it's cooked out in the field and not in an oven? Let's call it flatbread and move on...
You want to know the real pizza origin? Let's see: the Egyptians made a flatbread, the Indians baked naan in hot Tandoori ovens... but neither of these had toppings. The Persians had toppings, but was it pizza?
The ancient Greeks had a flat bread called plakountos, on which they placed various toppings, and we know also that Naples was founded (as Neopolis) by the Greeks. And Naples is the home of the modern pizza
I think we can agree now that ancient pizza is a toss-up, 'middle' pizza was Greek, and modern pizza (pre-American) was definitely Italian -- Neapolitan, even!
