(CNN)  -- Being the leader and second-richest person in one of the most beautiful and cultured nations on Earth might sound cushy, but Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi is having a rough year.



Already the subject of intense criticism over his personal life and management style, Berlusconi took another blow Sunday when a man police are calling "mentally unstable" smacked the Italian prime minister in the face with a souvenir replica of a cathedral.



Berlusconi, 73, who was in his hometown of Milan stumping for a political ally, suffered broken teeth and a fractured nose. His alleged assailant, Massimo Tartaglia, is being held by Milanese authorities, who believe he acted alone.



As he has done in the past after nonphysical attacks, Berlusconi blamed political opponents.



"What I can tell you is that there has been such a buildup of hatred toward the premier, and this is not good," Berlusconi spokesman Paolo Buonaiuti said. "This campaign of hatred has been building quite rapidly recently, and I am not surprised that what happened tonight took place."



The prime minister scores highly in polls gauging Italian popular opinion, though he has been tried on various charges 17 times since taking office in 1994. The charges include corruption, false accounting and tax fraud.



Berlusconi has said he did nothing wrong and accused magistrates of conducting a witch hunt. He also noted that he has never been convicted. In some cases, he was found guilty but won on appeal.



Berlusconi was elected to his third term as premier in April 2008, about two months after his trial on corruption charges was postponed until after the election.



His ability to maneuver through political crises has prompted a prominent journalist to liken him to a puppeteer, saying he is popular because he's a skilled populist.



Berlusconi is "a man who pulls the most elementary strings of the public opinion -- a public opinion, which in Italy in these times, prefers simple paths," said Giulio Anselmi, chairman of ANSA, Italy's leading news wire.



Even by Berlusconi's standards, 2009 has been a tumultuous year, as his second wife has filed for divorce and allegations of corruption and infidelity continue to surface.



This month's Rolling Stone Italy cheekily declared him "Rock Star of the Year." Editor Carlo Antonelli released a statement saying the prime minister made rockers Keith Richards and Rod Stewart look like "schoolboys."



"This year the choice was unanimous for his obvious merits due to a lifestyle for which the words, rock 'n' roll, fall short," Antonelli's statement said.



Watch how Berlusconi was hit at a rally



The prime minister's second wife, Veronica Lario, whom he married in 1990, filed for divorce in May after news reports that he attended a birthday party for 18-year-old Neapolitan model Noemi Letizia, with whom he was accused of having an improper relationship.



Berlusconi called the allegations "slander" and the girl's family, longtime friends of the prime minister, also deny there was anything improper.



Lario, the mother of three of Berlusconi's five children, is asking for about $70 million a year from the prime minister, whom Forbes magazine ranked this year as No. 70 on its list of richest people, with an estimated net worth of $6.5 billion.



More allegations followed the divorce filing, including claims that women were paid to attend parties at the prime minister's various homes. Berlusconi denied those allegations, telling the Italian magazine "Chi" he would never pay for sex because it would dampen the "the pleasure of the conquest."



In June, he went to court to block the publication of hundreds of photos from his seaside villa in Sardinia, saying they posed "an aggressive intrusion into my private life."



A Spanish paper ran some of the photos, showing scantily clad women at Berlusconi's villa and reporting that the premier was the subject of an investigation into whether he used official Italian aircraft to ferry guests to his villa. Berlusconi admitted using government airplanes to ferry guests, but an investigation found no wrongdoing on the premier's
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question: What is the spokesperson not surprised at?, answer: happened tonight took place." | question: who is Italian PM?, answer: Silvio Berlusconi | question: What is the name of the prime minister?, answer: Silvio Berlusconi | question: Who was not surprised PM was attacked?, answer: Berlusconi spokesman Paolo Buonaiuti | question: What magazine is making the quotes?, answer: Rolling Stone Italy | question: what has Italian PM Silvio Berlusconi blamed political opponents for?, answer: nonphysical attacks, | question: Who has Berlusconi has blamed for attacks?, answer: political opponents. | question: what does spokesman say?, answer: "What I can tell you is that there has been such a buildup of hatred toward the premier, and this is not good,"