It all makes sense now!

I figured out why Italians make so many gestures!

Back before the unification of Italy, 150 years ago, Italians could barely go from city to city without having problems talking to one another since there was no single Italian language - it was split by hundreds of dialects.

So, as smart as they were, they used hand gestures so that if the person didnt understand what they were saying, they could figure it out based on hand movements.

BAM. History lesson.