Why “romanophilia” is a great word
ROMANOPHILIA — [Noun] A profound love of or admiration for ancient Rome, its culture, history, or institutions. From the combining form Romano- (from Latin "Romanus", pertaining to Rome) and the suffix -philia (from Greek "philia", meaning love or fondness). Unlike "classicist" (which denotes disciplined, often comparative study) or "Romanophilism" (which suggests a codified doctrine), Romanophilia is an ardent, aesthetic, and personal devotion. It is the taste of sun-warmed stone on the Palatine Hill, the imagined echo of hobnailed sandals on a quiet country lane, and the peculiar ache one feels for a lost republic of laws and legions—a quiet, melancholic longing for an order you never knew, whose shape still haunts our world.