That's the crux of white superiority racism in the west. Romans are elevated to a near mythical level of advancement by people who can't do trig. That "advanced civilization" idea is then applied to human rights problems like slavery and libertarian ideas like Crassus' fire fighters. Racists are also notorious for not thinking shit through and that short term planning problem is why they never actually succeed, they just fuck up shit for others and then die.
The pyramids were built over two thousand years before the coliseum. Saying they are of the same time period is like claiming the Eiffel tower and the coliseum are of the same period too!
And as we know, Egyptians and much of the Ancient Semitic lands were advanced. All those empires didn't fail because they were stupid societies, it was usually conquering armies, plagues, or a string of terrible leaders. The sciences held strong though, especially leading in mathematics and astronomy up until only recent—relative to how far back were looking.
It had been conquered by Alexander the great and ruled by Greeks for 300 years before that. And Alexander the great had conquered it from the Persians.
it had a much better time at the early middle ages than a lot of other former roman provinces
It was part of the Roman empire up until the 7th century when it was conquered by the Islamic Caliphate. During the Roman period it was the richest province in the Empire and pretty much funded the whole thing. It was also a personal possession of the Emperor due to its riches.