Ruled the world? LOL Italy is NOT Rome. Not even mostly genetically.
I’d argue that IQ stuff. Good at art, as are French and Spanish, but much else? No, the most famous Italians are for anything with true useful “IQ” was banking. Something about Latinates - obsessed with art, but not much else.
The Ancient Romans invented cement, heated floors to warm a home, paved roads, acquaducts, and much more. Then we can go into more "modern" times, if you care to.
Many universities were founded in Italy in the middle ages.
"Italy has a rich tradition in science and technology with Italians advancing the scientific community through the past several centuries. Italian inventors, discoverers and scientists have enriched the world’s understanding and knowledge in varied scientific fields like biology, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy and the other sciences. Italy has produced some of the most brilliant minds since the Renaissance and the Roman era. Italian Galileo Galilei was called not only the "father of observational astronomy", but also the "father of modern physics", and the "father of science”. He was one of the major figures who played a significant role in the scientific revolution during the Renaissance. Polymath Leonardo da Vinci was another genius who epitomized the Renaissance ideal. Astronomer Giovanni Domenico Cassini, physicist Alessandro Volta, the mathematicians Giuseppe Peano, Lagrange, Fibonacci worked in Italy in the early modern era." - Famous Italian Scientists There was also Guglielmo Marconi, Enrico Fermi, Amedeo Avogadro, ...
Here is a pretty good list of significant Italian scientists.
Literature - Dante Alighieri, Petrarch, Ludovico Ariosto, Giovanni Boccaccio, Torquato Tasso, Machiavelli, Umberto Eco, Italo Calvino, Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa, Gabriele D'Annunzio, Alessandro Manzoni
Political thought - Machiavelli, Oriana Fallaci
Industry - FIAT, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Beretta, textiles, clothing, shoes, furniture, architecture, food
I could go on, but I stop here for now.