Aphids don't eat the leaves. It was most likely rose slugs-- small pale green worms on the underside of the leaves. There are many threads about them on the Forum each spring.

If your rose is an upright bush and good-sized, you could cut it back some to force the new growth to come lower down, rather than at the (current) top of the plant over bare legs. If it is arching or trained semi-horizontally, then it will fill in without your intervention.