On Dec 11, 2019, at 11:22 PM, Phil Pugliese - philpugliese at yahoo.com (via tml list) <xxxxxx@simplelists.com> wrote:

Since Cleon I made such a big deal about being the rightful successor to the 2I, I think whatever the 2I used would be most appropo.

Ehhh, he did that to claim a rightful ascension to the throne, as the Third Imperium was the successor to the Second as the Second was successor to the First. This was the slender reed upon which he based his legitimacy to go out and reconquer everything. 

The Second Imperium was mostly a decapitated First Imperium with Solomani taking the actual reins of power. I expect that there would still be an almost irresistible inertia to changing too much of the society. Remember, by that time the Vilani had been in charge for millenia, so I expect most, if not all of the symbology of the Second Imperium would still have a great deal of Vilani influence.

I view the 2I as more like the Ptolemaic Kingdom-type of conquest.  They were Greek, but they adopted traditional Egyptian culture as a means to legitimize and popularize their rule.