PS I do hope that passages such as the one quoted from Gnther above are not the kind of thing being used to substantiate the claim that Nordicists repeatedly used this and other passages to justify the claim that an invisible Nordic ruling class  were present in Rome Because that is not what Gnther is saying here Hes saying that the Roman ideal of beauty was derived from the characteristics found in a portion of the noble class  something noncontroversial in itself His addition is to align this with what he and others termed Nordic The thrust of the passage is this the Nordic features found in some of the noble class of Romans had a palpable effect on the Roman ideal of beauty  so much so that nonNordic Romans of the upper class felt the need to imitate their fairer associates Whether or not he is right is beside the question of course But linking this passage to a theory regarding an invisible Nordic ruling class an oxymoron seeing as how this Nordic element was above all else an apparent one would seem unwarranted In fact one could argue that Gnther is talking more about the artistic and literary portrayal of Roman nobility by their fellow Romans rather than their actual pedigree But more direct passages can be found from Gnther and Co regarding this theoryright