The greatest cultural legacy of Italy is its millennia-long history of intersections, contaminations, influences, mixtures, invasions, immigrations, emigrations, returns, travels, and contacts. From its role as an expansive power to becoming a coveted conquest target, the Italian peninsula has historically been a crucible where peoples, cultures, and civilizations merged and transformed.

The Roman Empire, a quintessential symbol of Italian heritage, itself was a culmination of influences from various civilizations such as the Villanovians, the Terramare culture, the Samnites, the Sabines, the Etruscans, the Ligurians, the Camunni, the Celts, the Siculi, the Dauni, alongside the enriching contributions from Greek settlements in Magna Graecia and the bustling life of its coastal enclaves.