Many things come to mind when I think of Italy: calzone, pizza, alfredo, spaghetti, panini and... the Roman empire. But were those dishes even present in Roman culture? What about similar archaic recipes?
How about staple Italian ingredients? Mozzarella, parmesan, olive oil, and garlic? Did Romans eat gelato or even pasta?
While there's always more to say, this is a very popular question, and you may be interested in these prior answers about what lasagna looked like before the tomato, what the ancient Romans ate, and what Roman soldiers ate.