Did ancient romans look white more than italian?

I read somewhere that the original romans from back when it was a republic and not an empire (back when being a roman was a birth right, not something you could apply for) looked more like what english and french people look like today; and not what modern day italians look like. The article was talking about how during the middle ages, a lot of middle eastern people migrated to europe and interpred with the local inhabitants, hence modern italians. Your opinions and facts please. I forget where the article was, but it makes sense.