The fertile land of the Italian peninsula provided Rome with all the tools necessary to grow in relative safety until they were prosperous enough to begin their conquests. Although they claimed to be descended from the glorious city of Troy, the city of Rome was likely founded by the Latins, a barbarian tribe who ruled over the city for a century. By the measure of other empires, the Roman Empire rose slowly from central Italy, rising from the shadow of the Etruscans and Latins much like Romulus and Remus rose from the Tiber River. The history of Rome is also a borrowed one, for they adopted many Etruscan, Latin, and specifically Greek religious rites, artistic and architectural tendencies, even the alphabet, they built upon their ancestry. There were differences in the way they ruled, such as the relatively high status women held in Etruscan kingdoms versus the Roman Empire. With Romulus' namesake and the legacy of the first laws he laid down, Rome would prosper, growing into one of the largest influences in history.