Azir

Could be some sort of Rome-like?

The way you described an Empire is the way Qin Dynasty China arose from the Warring States period - numerous individual states each claiming to represent China as a whole. I think that's a neat idea to apply to Shurima - a union of individual states that was conquered but share similar culture which is unlike the Roman Empire which was Romans generally conquering non-Roman cultures (Greek, Punic, African, Gaul, Breton, Germanian, etc...).

I also always imagined the Emperor had a much stronger religious role than simply ceremonial head of church/state. Because the Emperor appears to require Ascension as a requirement, there could be an undertone of Living God applied to the Emperor which may give Shurimans a feeling that their Emperor is a diety on Earth (therefore untouchable by illness or defeat lest the Gods themselves abandon them) or that the Emperor is simply a descendant of the Gods Above and therefore hold not just political sway, but demand religious devotion.

It might lead Shurimans to view other cultures differently. Why worship a Demacian King or follow a Noxian General who are merely mortal men when you can follow a true diety?

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Maybe I'm overstepping my bounds, but I was operating on the belief that the ancient Shuriman empire had several large cities, including Shurima the capital itself. (Also trade villages, forts, mining outposts, abandoned ex-capitals, and farming communities). There's some confusion, of course because the country is named for the capital city, but that's the version of Shurima I was working on when the tablet map was made.

So my two theories are that Shurima was once multiple countries, united under an Emperor and the title stuck, OR that 'Emperor' is the closest word to whatever the original ancient Shuriman word for their leader would have been. Like 'Pharaoh' sort of means King, but is a specific term for a civilization.

Well, your first theory I have some trouble with but your second theory seems plausible.

Now wait, you might have got the point Bioluminescence. We know that Amumu was discovered in a tomb supposedly far from Shurima's capital (my theory here) and it might have been why we were so confused about Azir not recognising the little mummy or vice-versa. If Shuriman Empire was a conglomerate of City-States it could be possible to suppose that Amumu could have been part of a different lineage from the one of Azir (although maybe sharing a common acestor, who knows) and that prevents somehow the confusion about different lineages in Shurima's (the country) history. Hell, for what we know even Icathia could have been a city of this Empire and being subsequently devoured by the Void. (Or was it already? I'm getting confused between old and new lore sometimes).

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Valoran do not have "Counties"... they have what the users call "Factions", Those factions have a main City State ruled by "someone" (Jarvan 3 in the case of Demacia, Swain in the case of Noxus, The Elders in the case of Ionia, Jadefellow in the case of Bandle City, Etc).

Those City States can call their "domains" like what they want, for Example, Freljord and Demacia call themselves a Kingdoms, Noxus says that its an Empire.

In the case of Shurima, is the same, the main city is Shurima, but it has small towns around the dessert... the whole terrain is called by Azir an "Empire" (The Empire of Shurima)... so, he is the Emperor.

You do realise that Valoran is a city or a state. Riot has never really been clear on those grounds. The thing which you're referring to is called Runeterra.