i mean, when westerners say rome, they arent really talking about rome. ffs, england somehow convinced itself and the rest of the world that it's the descendant of greco-roman civilization. this was only possibly by reinterpreting rome.

so i wouldnt call it just the pop-history understanding of classical civilization. this fake all-white marble rome goes deeper. it's a bit more like the fascist fantasies about the past that never was.

also, didnt the white marble rome meme get started in the reneissance?