Most powerful & important empires (v2)

[Blue3]

Which have been the most powerful & influential empires in world history?












Roman and Byzantine Empires








The Caliphates and Ottoman Empire








Mongol Empire







Spanish Empire







British Empire

[RosettaStoned]

 The British Empire. No contest.

[Lincoln Republican]

For sheer impact on the course of world events, British.

[Del Tachi]

Arab, Roman and British

[beaver2.0]

British.  Though it really was the English Empire.  The Saxons, Scots, Irish, Welsh, Picts, Ulster-Scots, Jutes, Frisians, Irish Protestants, Normans, Ulster Unionists, Danes, Norweges, Swedes, Dirty Stinking Belgian Bastards, and those Batavian Pretenders William and Mary had no part in this great Imperial Union.  Only the Angles did.  God Save the King!

[Lief 🗽]

This question is impossible to answer.

[Del Tachi]

There is no England without Rome.

There is no Western Renaissance or Enlightenment without the Arabs.

Can we please end this Angophilic circle jerk? 

[Beet]

There is no England without Rome.

There is no Western Renaissance or Enlightenment without the Arabs.

Can we please end this Angophilic circle jerk? 

By that logic, Martin Van Buren was a more significant president than Franklin Roosevelt because he came first and why, the latter would probably never have been born without the former, for a different sperm would have impregnated his mother, and so on.

The literal answer to the question is the American empire. It could easily vanquish all the others put together.

The British empire is very compelling, however, given Britain's role in originating the industrial revolution, establishing its own language as lingua franca, and its geographical reach.

[Del Tachi]

There is no England without Rome.

There is no Western Renaissance or Enlightenment without the Arabs.

Can we please end this Angophilic circle jerk? 

By that logic, Martin Van Buren was a more significant president than Franklin Roosevelt because he came first and why, the latter would probably never have been born without the former, for a different sperm would have impregnated his mother, and so on.

The literal answer to the question is the American empire. It could easily vanquish all the others put together.

The British empire is very compelling, however, given Britain's role in originating the industrial revolution, establishing its own language as lingua franca, and its geographical reach.

Martin Van Buren's presidency is not necessary for FDR's.

The Roman Empire and Arab Empires are necessary for the entirety of what we today know as "Western Civilization". 

It would be like saying that the fax machine has had more of a impact on the world than the printing press. 

Technologically,  fax machine is far superior than a printing press: its faster, shinier, and more efficient; however, the printing press is needed for there to be a fax machine. 

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Technologically,  fax machine is far superior than a printing press: its faster, shinier, and more efficient; however, the printing press is needed for there to be a fax machine. 

Not really.  There is absolutely no component created for the printing press that is needed for making a fax machine.

[Del Tachi]

Technologically,  fax machine is far superior than a printing press: its faster, shinier, and more efficient; however, the printing press is needed for there to be a fax machine. 

Not really.  There is absolutely no component created for the printing press that is needed for making a fax machine.

Would there be fax machines without printing presses?

No.

Also, laser or inkjet printers would have a hard time being invented without the invention of movable type centuries earlier.   

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

Technologically,  fax machine is far superior than a printing press: its faster, shinier, and more efficient; however, the printing press is needed for there to be a fax machine. 

Not really.  There is absolutely no component created for the printing press that is needed for making a fax machine.

Would there be fax machines without printing presses?

No.

Yes.  The initial use of fax machines in the 19th century was for the quick transmission of images and signatures, not multiple copies of a single document. The most common use of the Pantelegraph (the first commercially successful facsimile machine) was for signature verification in banking transactions. The necessary precursor of the fax machine is not the printing press, but of the telegraph.

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Yes and no.  It is conceivable that the printing part of those devices could have been invented without the invention of the printing press so as to duplicate originals.  Of course any device that abstracts the idea of a character and is able to turn a character into an image does depending upon the first mechanical implementation of that idea, the printing press, but fax machines don't print characters, they print images and thus do not depend upon the development of movable type as a necessary precursor.

[Hamster]

All of them were the most powerful and important within their own time periods. If you are interested in the cumulative effect then the oldest empire has had the most impact on setting the historical narrative, and thus might be considered the most important. If global reach is your metric than either than British or American empires (or Mongolian, if you're content to ignore Native American history) are your picks. If you still think this is a ridiculous question that leads nowhere good, there's no option in the poll for you.