This wasn't aimed at you specifically, apologies if you think it was. I've just heard this point a lot when the debate is aired and never quite considered it as analogous with, say, the British Empire and slavery.
as someone with a penchant for ancient history I find the citing of Rome somewhat baffling. The Roman Empire is thought to have ended in the 5th century. Italy, as a single entity didn't appear till the 19th. The periods in between saw a series of states in the Italian peninsula, many of which...