I’d say it’s thought of so highly because it was the first European empire of its size ever, just based on its land area, and the government system of the Romans and how that influenced the culture of the people is also a rather unique case for its time. Additionally, there’s a lot of particulars to learn about in regard to its military, and their conquests, as well as how the military interacted with the government throughout the empire’s span, and finally, Christianity greatly spread throughout it, so in the years surrounding and after Constantine’s conversion there’s a lot of post-Paul Christian history within the empire’s span of time that is of great importance to learn. So, clearly, there are reasons it’s held up highly as something that’s rather important to learn about. I see what you mean, however. People already know a lot about it, and that stupid trend of “oh yeah dood im just sitting here thinking about how caligula was like this bad guy or something, us wacky men are always thinking about muh hecking caesarino salads or however the emperor is stabbed” is a fool’s interest. You aren’t some deep thinker for reading the first link from a Google search, yet these sort of people often think they are.
