Well, if you speak about nations, Italy shouldn't be on that list imo , Italy became a nation/was unified only in the 2nd half of the 19th century (1861 if i remeber well, and Rome was annexed only in 1870).
Italy is one of the youngest nation in Europe, one could say that also Germany was unified around that period, but the main difference is that Italy was "divided" for like 1500 years, and the Holy Roman empire (or "Holy Roman empire of the German-ic nation" or something like that) lasted until 1800, while Italy , or better, the Italic peninsula, was completely fragmented in many states/kingdoms etc... it's not a case that in italy there are so many different dialects.
I think nations like France, England-GB, Spain ( Spain is quite culturally diverse. I woulnd't be suprised, for example, if Catalonia would become fully indipenent in the future. Anyway Spain was politically unified many centuries before italy and other nations. ), Austria-Hungary and Germany, definetly played a more important role in Europe and not only. ( at least since late middle ages till modern era).
Voted England-GB
Greatest Ancient-Old civilizations : Ancient Greeks, Romans and Celts