Re enactment and age

[Ghostmojo]

It is also an odd thing that so many images we take for granted are either Roman or Greek derived with much well-known architecture and scuplture of classical revival style. This is the case in Britain and much of Europe. Tellingly, it is also the case in the USA where let's face it - the most famous iconic buildings: the Capitol, White House, Lincoln and Jefferson Memorials are all neo-classical (via renaissance reinterpretations). They were carefully chosen to represent a strongly Republican message - drawing upon perhaps the most famous republic of them all. All sorts of interesting parallels exist between the US and Rome I always thought, but this isn't the right place to develop the republic-into-empire dimension.

In fairness to, and in support of the American education system; it is not the same scenario as in Europe. Here, many of us were directly touched by Roman rule and therefore it is a part of our actual history with monuments and ruins left for all to see. There, also bearing in mind the truly cosmopolitan make-up of society, it is really just part of general world history (from somewhere else). It would clearly have different cultural values to a mixed class of say African-American; Irish-American; Korean-American; Russian-American and Native-American kids on the one hand, than it would to perhaps Anglo-American; Hispanic-American; Greek-American and Italian-American children on the other.