The history of Italy covers the Ancient Period, the Middle Ages and the modern era. Since classical antiquity, ancient Phoenicians, Greeks, Etruscans, Illyrians (Messapians) and Celts have inhabited the Italian Peninsula, with various Italic peoples dispersed throughout Italy alongside other ancient Italian tribes and Greek, Carthaginian, and Phoenician colonies. In antiquity, Italy was the homeland of the Romans and the metropole of the Roman Empire. Rome was founded as a Kingdom in 753 BC and became a Republic in 509 BC, when the monarchy was overthrown in favor of a government of the Senate and the People. The Roman Republic then unified Italy at the expense of the Etruscans, Celts, and Greeks of the peninsula. Rome led the federation of the Italic peoples, and later dominated Western Europe, Northern Africa, and the Near East.