The Greatest Empire?

[Blue3]

Who had the Greatest Empire?

I did a similar poll a long time ago here, and the Romans and British came out on top, with everyone else I included far behind. The runners-up were the Spanish, Mongols, and Arabs.


When thinking of this, I personally don't just think about the amount of territory controlled.

I think of which empires directly had a long, deep, and widespread impact on the world.
* "Long"... a lasting impact.
* "Deep"... it wasn't a shallow conquest or quasi-colonization, it truly affected the world, and still does.
* "Widespread"... their influence covers a wide area of territory and/or large number of people.
* "Directly"... their influence isn't just some indirect butterfly effect, stuff happened specifically because of them.

[Blue3]

The Mongol Empire(normal)

That's what I was thinking.

This

The Mongols had an indirect impact, but don't seem to have much of a lasting legacy. They conquered an enormous area, but they assimilated into the people they ruled, and none of their governments lasted too long.

[Blue3]

The Mongol Empire(normal)

That's what I was thinking.

This

The Mongols had an indirect impact, but don't seem to have much of a lasting legacy. They conquered an enormous area, but they assimilated into the people they ruled, and none of their governments lasted too long.

.5% of the people on Earth are descendants of Temüjin (Genghis Khan).

And?

That makes his empire the greatest?

What if Gerald Ford is the ancestor of 1% of the world's population in 800 years... does that make him the greatest President?

(Also, isn't everyone with English ancestry basically a descendent of King John?)

[Blue3]

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.

Like I said, I did have China in my old poll. And the Mongols. And Arabs. And Spanish. Etc.

But the Romans and British were by far the winners. This is round 2.

[Blue3]

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