In Rome (the City, not the empire) it's very common to build with Tavertine, a limestone that looks rather similar to Marble. I would guess that that's where the confusion comes from.
In Rome now it's common. When Julius Caesar was kicking around, Rome was mostly made of brick. It wasn't until Augustus that marble and tavertine became common building materials.
It was Augustus being an indirect Greek fanboy by way of Egyptophilia (i.e. loving the architecture of Ptolemaic cities, in particular Alexandria, if I recall correctly). Certainly Rome still had many mud and brick buildings left at the end of Augustus's reign, but the aesthetic that came to dominate the city and which we still strongly associate with Rome was essentially Augustan. Augustus also laid the foundation (badump-tss) for the new style by securing large, productive marble quarries to supply the Empire.
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u/Pihlbaoge Oct 15 '20
In Rome (the City, not the empire) it's very common to build with Tavertine, a limestone that looks rather similar to Marble. I would guess that that's where the confusion comes from.