Which modern country is the successor of the Roman Empire?

[Blue3]

I think the Vatican. It’s not a continuation of Roman government, but the Catholic Church did become an official state-sponsored religion, part of the state apparatus, and survived with continuity.

[Blue3]

I sometimes wonder why Western Europe (and its own colonial “offspring”) revere the Roman Empire / Western Roman Empire so much instead of other civilizations?

It made political sense why the Pope and Charlemagne tried to say they were the successor. But aside from the Catholic Church connection, what’s the point of wanting that link?

Ancient Egypt is more impressive. Greek City-states gave more to think about, and Alexander’s conquest more to base ambitions on. The medieval kingdoms had some impressive feats. The colonial kingdoms changed the world even more than Alexander, even if they weren’t a one-person show as much. You could argue for the influence of the the cumulative successions of Persian empires, and definitely for those of the Fertile Crescent. There’s even the lasting cultural legacy of the Germanic tribes, and the Vikings who settled even into the Mediterranean, France, and into Russia. The Italian renaissance city-states for their own cultural heritage in shaping society’s arts and philosophies. There’s even the monumental French Revolution and Napoleon. Germany’s spread of Protestantism, and modern bureaucracy. The semi-Democratic Polish-Lithuanian commonwealth being as foundational to modern democracy as the UK and the Magna Carta. The might and influence of the Czars. Why Rome?