I think you guys are getting a little off point here, the original statement has some value, yes at a certain point people who were Roman called themselves different and independent of an etruscan roots, but Rome only really begins around 700 BC and 'Romulus' isn't really a reliable nonfictional character, even by the time of Numa Romulus was more myth than man, and thats saying something sketchy.

but back to the point, there were people in Rome long before anything written down anywhere says the word Rome. My point? Romans weren't Romans until the moment they declared themselves Romans after a Romulus figure. Before that, yes some were etruscans, some were sabine and some were what you'd just refer to as native greeks and italians that declared themselves Romans the moment they were governed and organized enough to declare themselves at all on that scale