Italy's first societies emerged around 1200 B.C. Around 800 B.C. Greeks settled in the south and Etruscans arose in central Italy. By the sixth century B.C., the Etruscans had created a group of states called Etruria. Meanwhile, Latin and Sabine people south of Etruria merged to form a strong city-state called Rome.

Etruscan kings ruled Rome for nearly a hundred years. But Romans tossed out the Etruscans in 510 B.C. and went on to conquer the whole peninsula. They then set out to build a vast empire. At its greatest extent, in A.D. 117, the Roman Empire stretched from Portugal to Syria to Britain to North Africa.

The first sole emperor of Rome, Octavian, took power in 27 B.C. and took the name Augustus Caesar. 

For more than 400 years, the empire flourished. But by the fourth century A.D., it was in decline. In 395, the empire was split in two, and in 476, Germanic tribes from the north toppled the last emperor.

In the 12th century, Italian city-states began to rise again and grow rich on trade. But Italy remained a patchwork of territories, some of which were controlled by foreign dynasties. Beginning in 1859, an uprising forced the foreigners out, and in 1861, the Kingdom of Italy was proclaimed.

In 1914, Italy took the side of the United Kingdom and the U.S. in World War I, but was left in poverty at war's end. Benito Mussolini and his Fascist Party rose to power promising to restore the Roman Empire. He ruled as a dictator and entered World War II on the side of Germany and Japan. He was later captured and executed.

Jungle's rhythm-as-melody style overturned the dominance of melody-over-rhythm in the hierarchy of Western music, adding to its radical nature.^[5]:242 Jungle music, as a scene, was unable to decide whether it wanted to be recognized in the mainstream or if it wanted to avoid misrepresentation.^[7] This manifested in the cooperation of jungle artists and small record labels. Small record labels work to provide more autonomy to the music artists in return for their business and jungle music was proliferated by pirate stations in underground networks and clubs.^[8] An example of this conflict is General Levy, a reggae artist, who was criticized for selling out to the mainstream when his single, "Incredible", made the UK Singles Chart in 1994. There was a mixed view of his work as many did not like his claim as "King of Jungle". At the same time, his work allowed popular recognition which may not have occurred otherwise.^[8]