tl;dr: they had nice jewelry, so it wasn't really dark I don't understand why people feel the need to whitewash this, aside from a preexisting religious motive

tl;dr: they had nice jewelry, so it wasn't really dark I don't understand why people feel the need to whitewash this, aside from a preexisting religious motive or mindlessly being contrary. Civilization went backwards after Rome fell. It took centuries to rediscover and reincorporate those parts of Western culture. I worry that too many people secretly want to go back to being serfs.