In Italian the stress usually falls on the second to last syllable. If there is an exception it is usually flagged by a grave accent over the stressed vowel - so citt� (city) stressed on the last syllable or M�dici, stressed on the first. (If you want to see an Italian squirm, talk to him/her about Florence making regular references to the MedEEchees!) Romeo in Italian is regular, so stresses on the second last, as in Alfa Romeo. Shakespeare, on the other hand, came from Warwickshire, and probably couldn't have cared less how Italians pronounced it, so we have R�meo!