Well let's get something straight here....Athens and Sparta were not nearby by any means. For the first 400 years of Roman history (kingdom and republic...the years before the Punic Wars) the Romans were only a regional power...they fought local wars and had local allies, generally 50 miles or less away from Rome. Now the Romans did send emissaries to Athens around 452 BC to study/bring back laws as the basis of their own legal system, but the interaction between Rome and Athens/Sparta during this time period was virtually non-existent. Naples during this period was known as Neapolis and was a Roman ally for a time before it was incorporated into the larger Roman area of control.