The Italian Peninsula , named Italia , was consolidated into a single entity during the Roman expansion and conquest of new lands at the expense of the other Italic tribes , Etruscans , Celts , and Greeks . A permanent association with most of the local tribes and cities was formed , and Rome began the conquest of Western Europe , Northern Africa and the Middle East . In the wake of Julius Caesar 's rise and death in the first century BC , Rome grew over the course of centuries into a massive empire stretching from Britain to the borders of Persia , and engulfing the whole Mediterranean basin , in which Greek and Roman and many other cultures merged into a unique civilisation . The long and triumphant reign of the first emperor , Augustus , began a golden age of peace and prosperity . Italy remained the metropole of the empire , and as the homeland of the Romans and the territory of the capital , maintained a special status which made it " not a province , but the '' Domina '' ( ruler ) of the provinces " . More than two centuries of stability followed , during which Italy was referred to as the '' rectrix mundi '' ( queen of the world ) and '' omnium terrarum parens '' ( motherland of all lands )
death
Assassination of Julius Caesar
Italy