I know this is a joke/meme, but I sincerely think of the Roman Empire a surprising amount of times. I find myself obsessing over how Roman citizens were living just as complex lives as we are today, or about Marcus Aurelius’ life and philosophy, or about how the Republic fell and became a totalitarian state.
Well firstly, Rome did not become “totalitarian”. The word implies there is heavy censorship and control over the minutiae of the daily lives every single citizen. There was no secret police in Rome to police thoughts. Totalitarianism is different to authoritarianism. Rome transitioned to “authoritarianism” because the power of the senate became diluted and transferred much of the power to the caesar or emperor. But the caesar still allow huge degree of freedom and still held sessions with the senate to discuss matters. There is a reason why the Roman empire with an emperor, as its ruler, still lasted for centuries. Many people in the past identified as Romans even long after the Western part fell.
To answer your question, I don’t think much about the Roman empire. I think they’re overrated. They have been the model of many European powers (and the United States) to justify imperialism and colonisation. Rome is being presented as the the force that “civilised” much of Europe from dirty barbarians. That’s not so different from the Western idea of civilising mission and manifest destiny to subjugate dirty indigenous folks in the colonies.
I think you are confusing impact and desire for role model there. The impact of the Roman Empire, as well as western colonialism is exactly as you describe it, and it’s not wrong to think about these things.
Just because someone does that doesn’t mean they laude that in any way.
There is a AskHistorians question in reddit on the legacy of the Roman empire. The response has been that the idea of being the shining beacon on the hill is one of the enduring cultural legacy of Rome, especially with many European/Western countries presenting themselves as entities spreading civilisation to the unknown world, echoing the Roman legacy in Europe, Middle East and North Africa.