If you examine the history of the British you'll find their architecture e.g. Georgian, was inspired by archeological digs and ruin sites in Italy. A lot of it bears obvious elements from ancient Greek and Roman temples once you stop to examine them.
The Federal and Colonial styles in America are similarly inspired, obeying rules of symmetry last evident on a civilizational scale during the Roman Empire.
It is not just architecture. The education system in Britain and America was originally based on the methods used by the Romans e.g. logic, rhetoric. It is not a coincidence that we use words like curriculum, syllabus. I can tell you it is pure joy to read some Latin works, they are so interesting and clear to read in a way I don't get from a newspaper of 2016 A.D.
Our political systems are deeply informed by the thoughts of the Greeks and Romans. The founders of America were particularly concerned about the failure modes of democracy that concerned ancients such as Plato and Cato, which is why in three days the electoral college is about to vote in the next President.
The reactionaries and conservatives in the West have always held the downfall of Rome up as a warning to present society of various failure modes, some of which are moral decline (corruption), lack of moral fibre/spirit/courage, subversive religions and civil conflict from non-assimilating ethnic groups.
Recently I've seen papers saying there is good evidence that Roman literacy rates were much higher than we formerly imagined. That certainly influenced how I thought about stagnation and decline. I am certain that humanity periodically goes through 'Year Zero' Resets that cause them to forget almost everything. If you'd like to have the pants scared off you, read Joseph Tainter's The Collapse of Complex Societies.