roman art show ancient romans were mediterraneans

Were the Ancient Romans white or dark skinned?

I am talking about the REAL original Romans, not the Romans that were from other cultures, the Italic Romans before the empire and even before Rome became a Republic. The Ancient Romans were as I've been told "dark skinned", but others say that they were "very white". I'm confused to how the Original Romans looked. Some people even say they looked like modern day Italians, but which kind?? Some Italians look like this:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kkODZo4he7M/Ts…

http://www.niaf.org/events/images/giorgi…

And some like this:

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/w…

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-g0v5xHUqfQM/US…

So I'm confused, How did the Romans really looked like? Is there a profesional wewsite I can visit regarding this??

• 2 weeks ago
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Louise C

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most Italians are dark, and in art from the Roman period it appears most of them were dark too. Ancient Romans appeqr to have been much like modern Italians, however, Italians are generally considered to be Europeans and therefore 'white' though this is a rather vague term. italians are dark for white people, but lighter than Africans or Indians for instance.

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Other Answers (2)

• Heathcli...

  the Italic tribes including the Romans moved out of the Russian steppes around the same time as the massive celtic hordes moved into Europe displacing many of the prior proto Italics & proto celtic dwellers.
  Romans & Italics were Caucasian & white, many had blonde or red hair & blue eyes although not as many as did the Celts.
  A large Celtic tribe moved into an area on the Black sea in Anatolia (now called turkey).
  Most of Northern Italy was settled by Celts, not Italics.
  In Sicily the Sicul tribes may have been pre-Italic & they were darker white skinned with black hair.
  In Greece there were Hellenic tribes as well as many Celtic tribes in what became Yugoslavia.
  Once the Roman civilization took root & conquered much of Europe, N. Africa & parts of the middle east some Italians melded with the residents of those areas. N. Africa at the time was Caucasian not black. During the middle ages the Italian peninsula was attacked & some areas were incorporated into foreign lands ruled by Muslim Saracens. Some Italians may have interbred with those Caucasian but darker skinned people.
  Goths & German tribes along with other barbarian tribes invaded Italy starting around 400AD & many left their lighter haired & lighter skinned genetics in the Italian DNA.
  Like most of Europe there was a lot of intermixing of genes, The Roman soldiers were not known to be celibate when they invaded & many barbarian women might have needed some Roman "input" once their mates were killed during conflicts with the Romans.
  The Sammi of northern Norway, Sweden & Finland are probably the purest breed of Europeans.
  Everyone else is most likely a mutt, including me although all my family roots are deep in the instep of the Italian peninsula & we have a lot of blonde &redheads & blue eyed relatives from that area that is noted for dark haired brown eyed people. So go figure.

  • 2 weeks ago
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• Francesc...

  Fair white skin

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