I have always been fascinated by Roman history. But what induced me to seek out and find SVR, and want to say "civis romanus sum" were two things, primarily.
First, an interest in stoicism. Long ago, as a student of philosophy, I studied utilitarianism, pragmatism, and analytic philosophy, but I found nothing in them which taught me anything about the art of living. Stoicism has, and the proponents of stoicism who speak to me most clearly are the Roman stoics, primarily Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. Stoicism seems to have appealed to what may be called, generally speaking, the Roman character, and so the Roman character appealed to me.
Second, a revolt, as it were, against my generation's fascination with the East, and against the view that there is nothing of value to be learned from the history of the West, and Europe in particular (dead white people in even more particular).
I think Rome at its best allowed for, and actually promoted through the Pax Romana, for example, the expansion of philosophical thought, knowledge and tolerance of different peoples, religions and cultures, and the possibility of improvement at least for those residing within the Empire. Spaniards and africans, as well as others from outside Italy, were among the greatest of the emperors. And although Greek and Roman culture were paramount, the empire managed to assimilate, tolerate, and even take on certain of the characteristics of other cultures with which it came into contact.
The respect of Rome for law, justice, fairness, at least in the abstract, is for me probably the most attractive facet of the Roman Way. Like my cousin Valerius Claudius Iohanes, I have always had a certain sympathy for and admiration of Pontius Pilatus (a sneaky admiration in my case, the product of too many years in Catholic schools and as an altar boy). Put yourself in his place--confronted with what he likely felt was inexplicable religious fanaticism on all sides, charged to keep the peace, trying not to implicate Rome too deeply as a proponent of any particular faction, he acted quite cleverly, and most of all fairly, according to the cruel standards of the time.
So, the Western tradition for me is really not that bad at all, and in ancient Rome created a society and culture which measures well against any other in human history of which I am aware.