Who had the Greatest Empire?
Probably the Han, especially in two of the four criteria you specify, and before you die, probably three of the four.
Given the two options you offer, and not wanting to say "other", I'll go with the Romans. 1100 years is pretty impressive. Also, there's the language, the alphabet, the twelve tables, concrete, newspapers, welfare, bound books, the calendar, etc. The Brits, the Spanish, the Americans, and a few others all have major achievements, but none of them really overachieve, so I'll go with the Romans here. Of course, the Han Empire probably will outshine Rome historically. If one asked the question every five hundred years starting 3000 years ago, "what is the richest country in the world?" then "China" would be the answer in all but two instances: 1500 (Spain) and 2000 (USA). My guess is that by 2500 China will be yet again the answer to that question. Next time offer three choices, and make one of them China. It probably won't matter what the second and third choices are, because the Han Empire will outrank them all.
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