A Rome full of Greeks, yet few of the dregs are Greek!
For the Syrian Orontes has long since polluted the Tiber,
Bringing its language and customs, pipes and harp-strings
- Juvenal, 118 A.D., Satire III – Fleeing Rome
The history of Italy and Italians is the history of Western civilization. 3,000 years ago Rome was a humble collection of villages str…