WI: More claimants to being the successor of the Roman Empire?

GameBawesome

GameBawesome

So, as most of us known, the legacy of the Roman Empire, is quite great. There have been many Empires, Kingdom or nations that claimed to be the successor to the Roman Empire (Before, you ask. No, not counting Eastern Roman Empire among them, as they were not a successor to the Roman Empire. They were the Roman Empire, arguably. So, we're treating WRE and ERE claims as one).

Some of the major claimants (In no particular order) that people are about were:
  • Holy Roman Empire/Austrian Empire - Claimed if via Charlamagne being crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Austrian Empire would later claimed to be successors to the HRE.
  • Ottoman Empire - Claimed it via their conquest of Constantinople.
  • Russian Empire - Claimed it after the Fall of Constantinople, and due to being Orthodox and historical and even marriage ties to the Eastern Roman Empire
  • Kingdom of Italy - Claimed it due to cultural ties, and due to them having the capital of Rome. Benito Mussolini would take this a step further, trying to expand Italy's colonial empire in the Mediterranean and Africa.
  • Kingdom of Greece - Claimed it as a continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire and tried to pursue the Megali Idea.
Here are some other claimants, though whether or not their claims hold up is debatable:
  • Kingdom of France/French Empire - Claimed it at one point because Andreas Palaiologos sold them the titles. Later Napoleon tried to emulate Charlamagne, claiming heritage from the Frankish Empire as a continuation of Western Francia.
  • Kingdom of Spain - Claimed it at one point because Andreas Palaiologos gave the titles to the Catholic Monarchs in his will.
  • German Empire - Claimed it as a successor to the Holy Roman Empire. Technically, the Nazis had a claimed, due to them claiming to be the 'Third Reich', succeeding both the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire.
  • There are also some people who claim Vatican City and San Marino to be successors to the Roman Empire, but I don't think they're serious.
With that list out of the way, claimants to the Roman Empire/Eastern Roman Empire are already chaotic, with nations claiming to be successors to the Roman Empire, some of which are debatable, and some are just weak justifications to why they're the successors to the Romans.

With all that chaotic list... What if even more nations claimed to be successors to the Roman Empire? What are some kingdoms or other empires could justify that they are a successor to Roman Empire, even if it's the tiniest and weakest reasonings and justifications to why they have a claim, even if they make absolutely no sense whatsoever and borders on Mental Gymnastics.

What are some nations you would pick and justify having a claim to the Roman Empire/Eastern Roman Empire?

Personal picks*, would be:

1) United States of America (Let's say they're a restoration of 'Roman Republicanism')
2) Serbia (Already had ties to the ERE during the Serbian Empire, claiming to be 'Emperor of Serbs and Romans'),
3) Portugal (Some Portuguese had some weird concept of them being the 'Fifth Empire')

Sidenote: Remember, none of these claims are actually serious. This is more of fun thought-experiment, trying to find the smallest justifications to why they would have a claim
 

czareason

Romania is named after Rome, its language is a romance language, it once was lead by a Domnitor (Dominus) and was once part of the East Roman and Ottoman empires.

Jordan thru the Hashemite claim of the title of Calph which makes them heirs of the Ottoman and of Rome

Brazilian Empire - thru Portugal's claim

Mexican Empire - part Austrian claim part Spanish claim
 

walmart

Onedotman said:
An alternate Christian-majority/Coptic Egypt perhaps?
Click to expand...
Egypt in 1800s when pretty hard into European cultural influence, I don't think you would even need a Christian Egypt.

“My country is no longer in Africa; we are now part of Europe"
 
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Nuraghe

GameBawesome said:
So, as most of us known, the legacy of the Roman Empire, is quite great. There have been many Empires, Kingdom or nations that claimed to be the successor to the Roman Empire (Before, you ask. No, not counting Eastern Roman Empire among them, as they were not a successor to the Roman Empire. They were the Roman Empire, arguably. So, we're treating WRE and ERE claims as one).

Some of the major claimants (In no particular order) that people are about were:
  • Holy Roman Empire/Austrian Empire - Claimed if via Charlamagne being crowned Holy Roman Emperor. The Austrian Empire would later claimed to be successors to the HRE.
  • Ottoman Empire - Claimed it via their conquest of Constantinople.
  • Russian Empire - Claimed it after the Fall of Constantinople, and due to being Orthodox and historical and even marriage ties to the Eastern Roman Empire
  • Kingdom of Italy - Claimed it due to cultural ties, and due to them having the capital of Rome. Benito Mussolini would take this a step further, trying to expand Italy's colonial empire in the Mediterranean and Africa.
  • Kingdom of Greece - Claimed it as a continuation of the Eastern Roman Empire and tried to pursue the Megali Idea.
Here are some other claimants, though whether or not their claims hold up is debatable:
  • Kingdom of France/French Empire - Claimed it at one point because Andreas Palaiologos sold them the titles. Later Napoleon tried to emulate Charlamagne, claiming heritage from the Frankish Empire as a continuation of Western Francia.
  • Kingdom of Spain - Claimed it at one point because Andreas Palaiologos gave the titles to the Catholic Monarchs in his will.
  • German Empire - Claimed it as a successor to the Holy Roman Empire. Technically, the Nazis had a claimed, due to them claiming to be the 'Third Reich', succeeding both the Holy Roman Empire and the German Empire.
  • There are also some people who claim Vatican City and San Marino to be successors to the Roman Empire, but I don't think they're serious.
With that list out of the way, claimants to the Roman Empire/Eastern Roman Empire are already chaotic, with nations claiming to be successors to the Roman Empire, some of which are debatable, and some are just weak justifications to why they're the successors to the Romans.

With all that chaotic list... What if even more nations claimed to be successors to the Roman Empire? What are some kingdoms or other empires could justify that they are a successor to Roman Empire, even if it's the tiniest and weakest reasonings and justifications to why they have a claim, even if they make absolutely no sense whatsoever and borders on Mental Gymnastics.

What are some nations you would pick and justify having a claim to the Roman Empire/Eastern Roman Empire?

Personal picks*, would be:

1) United States of America (Let's say they're a restoration of 'Roman Republicanism')
2) Serbia (Already had ties to the ERE during the Serbian Empire, claiming to be 'Emperor of Serbs and Romans'),
3) Portugal (Some Portuguese had some weird concept of them being the 'Fifth Empire')

Sidenote: Remember, none of these claims are actually serious. This is more of fun thought-experiment, trying to find the smallest justifications to why they would have a claim
Click to expand...




it depends on what you mean by successors of Rome, because there can be many different points of view, all more or less legitimate, then if we talk about direct continuation, the only valid one is Byzantium ( literally being the eastern part of the empire that survived until 1453, but which for religious political reasons was no longer recognized as such by the Latin populations ) instead if you mean countries that are heirs of Rome then all of Europe as such is ( since for centuries it was the highest point of the European imagination, in particular however we must look at the Roman-Germanic kingdoms, among which the best are obviously the Ostrogothic kingdom of Italy and the Frankish kingdom / empire ( with its emanations to follow : France and HRE ) but also the Islamic world can claim some connection with Rome ( yes for having fought / traded with it for centuries, or for having conquered it in the end ) but among all these I would say that the papacy is the one that can most claim to be the heir of Rome currently existing ( since it is a Roman institution , born in the midst of the empire, originally chosen only among the inhabitants of the City and recognized as such also by the other powers and finally made it its own, transforming the concept of imperium and applying it to the church )

Russia, on the other hand, is a separate issue, given that its idea of being the third Rome is strictly linked to being the sole expression of the Orthodox ( free ) church not under the control of Muslims or Latins ( in particular Ottomans and the Catholic church ) this it occurred because over the centuries Byzantium developed what we can define as a proto-nationality based purely on the linguistic-religious axis (bwhere Greek language and Orthodoxy stood for being Romans, born first in opposition to the fighting with the Turks-Arabs and then from the interactions with the "Franks") concept which then spread over time, furthermore marrying the last princess of Paleologos blood increased this feeling
 
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oberdada

Luxembourg as former member of the Holy Roman Empire. The title falls to Luxembourg, since it was a member untill the end and still is a monarchy.
Liechtenstein could make the same claim, but Luxembourg ruling title is superior.
 
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