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 empire & conquests. Rome was likely founded by the Latins, a barbarian tribe, and later conquered by the Etruscans, who ruled over the city for a century. The Roman Empire rose slowly from central Italy. The Palatine Hill became the center of the empire, and though myth and time have shrouded much of the truth of the history of Rome, there is no denying the legacy left behind by the Romans. The history of Rome is also a borrowed one, for they adopted many Etruscan, Latin, and specifically Greek religious rites, artistic and architecture. 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.