I like this ok, but there's a few odd things I've noticed.
1. Empire's history is very similar to Imperial Rome
2. Late Imperial Roman geopolitical situation
3. Mediterranean foods/resources (olives, wheat, wine, grapes)
4. Uniquely European coronation
5. Japanese technology (The threshing devices used by the farmers are all Japanese rice threshers)
6. A lot of the MC's clever ideas are only special because all the other countries are kind of retarded