As the Roman Empire (or Byzantine Empire) began to fewer influence in Italy, the Italians stopped viewing themselves as the Roman people and adopted a Italian identity. Did this have to do with the morphing of the Latin language into Italian or could this have been a result of a more regional identity? I always found it funny that while Greeks and other people part of the Byzantine Empire still considered (and rightfully so) themselves as Romans, while the Italians no longer identified as Romans.