What is the greatest empire ever existed?

[bossel]

I don't think that the Inca conquered any other state or organised societies to make their own state. In that sense it was more a kingdom.

Actually, it was pretty much what you would call an empire. They conquered or integrated via blackmail (Oh, look, we are so powerful & rich. Wouldn't it be nice to join our great, big nation? As local leaders, you & your family could get even richer than you are now with your own little kingdom. We will give your children very good education in our best schools in Cuzco. ... Oh, besides: Have I mentioned that our army has 50 times more men than yours?) quite a number of smaller societies (states, nations, kingdoms, whatever). On the height of Inca power several hundred languages were spoken in the empire. Power always lay in the hands of the Inca, although they divided their territory into four provinces.

Only, the empire didn't last for very long (though much longer than Hitler's Millennial Reich).

I also think that Egypt was just a kingdom, as it didn't keep or integrate enough other land (more than its own size and population) outside its cultural borders to be called an empire.

Since the rulers for most of the time were called (the Egyptian equivalent of) kings, you're right. Whether they conquered enough land or peoples to qualify, depends on the definition & the time you look at. Eg. Egypt at the time of Tuthmosis III may very well qualify as an empire even by your terms.

most of the worls empires were from history, and, frankly, this conquest probably did more for the overall advancement of the human species then lone little isolated and fragile tribes ever could.

I doubt that. Sure, a lot of technological advancements were done by people who had enough leisure time, because they or their ancestors chopped off others heads & stole their property, but there are enough inventions which were done by people who did not rely on "empirical data."

In history people had much different values then our own and, maybe instead of seeing it as a shameful past,

Sorry, if you misunderstood that. I don't see it as a shameful past. There is nothing to be ashamed about, I (& most other living humans) never participated in empire building.

In history you dont need a large empire for the type of behaviour you attribute to them, small kingdoms could be just as opressive, just as unfair as any large empire.

Totally agree. There is absolutely nothing great about small kingdoms as well. You could add quite a number of other types of government here.

 

[Zauriel]

Imperial Russia is the term used to cover the period of history from the expansion of Russia under Peter the Great, through the expansion of the Russian Empire from the Baltic Sea to the Pacific Ocean, to the deposal of Nicholas II of Russia, the last tsar, at the start of the Russian Revolution of 1917.

The Russian state was officially named the Russian Empire (Russian: ?Q???????y?z???{?p?? ?I?}???u???y?? - transliterated "Rossyiskaya Imperia") from 1721 to 1917.


The Russian Empire in 1913The capital city of the Russian Empire was Saint-Petersburg (after 1914 re-named Petrograd). At the end of the 19th century the size of the Empire was about 22,400,000 square kilometers (almost 1/6 of the Earth's landmass); its only rival in size was the British Empire at the time. According to the 1897 census its population was about 128,200,000 people, however, a majority of them (93.4 million) lived in European Russia. More than a 100 different ethnic groups lived in the Russian Empire (ethnic Russians were about 45% of the population). In addition to today's Russia prior to 1917 Russian Empire included territories of Finland (Grand Duchy of Finland), Estonia and Latvia (Baltic provinces), most of Lithuania, Belarus, most of Ukraine (Dnieper Ukraine and Crimea), a significant part of Poland (Kingdom of Poland), Moldova (Bessarabia), Caucasus, and most of Central Asia (Russian Turkestan).

In 1914 the Russian Empire consisted of 81 provinces (guberniyas) and 20 regions (oblasts). Vassals and protectorates of the Russian Empire included the Emirate of Bukhara, the Khanate of Khiva and, after 1914, Tuva (Uriankhai).

The Russian Empire was a hereditary monarchy headed by an autocratic Emperor (Czar) from a Romanov dynasty. Orthodox Christianity was the official faith of the Empire and was controlled by the monarch through the Holy Synod. Subjects of the Russian Empire were segregated into sosloviyes, or social estates (classes) such as "dvoryanstvo" (nobility), clergy, merchants, cossacks and peasants. Native people of Siberia and Central Asia were officially registered as a category called "inorodtsy" (non-Russians, literally: "people of alien kind").

In addition to Russia proper, the empire consisted of the constitutional monarchies of the Kingdom of Poland (1815-1831) and the Grand Duchy of Finland (1809-1917)

The coat of arms of the Russian Empire was a two-headed eagle; the national anthem - God Save the Tsar (Bozhe, Tsarya khrani); the official language - Russian.

After the overthrow of monarchy during the February Revolution of 1917 Russia was declared to be a republic by the Provisional Government.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperial_Russia

 

[Secret]

I take it none of you have ever seen 'Star Wars'. -_^
(Sorry, felt like having some fun. =D)

 

[Dutch Baka]

My own empire!!! You guys have to wait around 20 years for that, But remember my name!!!

 

[Blututh]

One must keep in mind that although Ancient Rome topped the list, they achieved their greatness almost ENTIRELY through the use of slave labor.

 

[Sensuikan San]

One must keep in mind that although Ancient Rome topped the list, they achieved their greatness almost ENTIRELY through the use of slave labor.

Yes ... to a great degree, absolutely true.

But, given the period in which Rome was active ... this would be quite normal. Most other civilisations also practised slavery too.

Remember that Nazi Germany is also in the poll (Thankfully, not at the top!). To its disgrace it, too, was reliant on slave labor - in the twentieth century!

As a Brit, I must confess ...the British Empire may also have a few issues in this regard - should they ever come up in court! Admittedly, you would have to ask the right questions though.:biggrin:

But it could be done!

?W????

 

[Mycernius]

As a Brit, I must confess ...the British Empire may also have a few issues in this regard - should they ever come up in court! Admittedly, you would have to ask the right questions though.:biggrin:
But it could be done!
ジョン

Yes. I seem to remember concentration camps were a British idea used during the Boer war. The idea of scalping was a idea that the native americans 'pinched' from British soldiers. Opium wars, oppression in India, but you'll find these types of abuses in any type of Empire or world leader. The only time when they become answerable to them is when they fall from grace. After all we currently have Gitmo and abuses covered up in Iraq by the US and then their are questionable things done in Vietnam. China and its own abuses to its own people, but who is going to slap their wrists at the moment. The one thing that we learn from history is that all powers fall and then history judges them on their deeds.

 

[Sensuikan San]

Sssshhhhhh .... !

Don't tell everybody .... !

Traitor!

?W????

 

[Philip]

The Roman Empire for sure! They were brilliant. Their military forces and tactics. The architecture of their buildings. They were far more sophisticated.

 

[heliobacter]

i wouldn't say 'great' (i'm with bossel, empires always mean opression, occupation, murder etc.) but i think genghis khan's mongol empire must have been darn impressive.
35 million km² (according to wikipedia), i think administrating such a large area isn't easy, especially in the 13th / 14th century.

 

[Zauriel]

Genghis Khan's empire is considered the world's second largest one.

Anyway, it's true that British empire, Roman empire and Nazi Germany are oppressive but so are Spanish colonial empire, Dutch colonial empire, French colonial Empire, Imperialist WWII Japan, etc. What empire does not oppress its overseas subjects?

Every empire is oppressive and tyrannical because of the empire leaders' arrogance and superiority complex which cost them the loyalty of their subjects, who were treated as third-class citizens in their own lands.

Why did you think Mexicans, Indians, Filipinos, Cubans, Indonesians, Africans, Vietnamese, Bolivians, and many others have revolted against their colonial masters of Britain, Spain, France, Netherlands, and other empires? Why did you think that the "barbarians" have sacked Rome?

If the colonial leaders had a more benevolent attitude towards their subjects, they would be able to preserve their subjects' loyalty.

But even after Spain lost its most of the Latin American colonies, ever-arrogant Spaniards still continued to oppress Filipinos and Cubans who were, along with Puerto Ricans, the last Spanish possessions to declare independence. Spain also lost Puerto Rico and Guam to U.S. who became the next imperialist power for betraying the Filipinos by taking their hard-won independence from them.

Even after the British colonials lost America, they continued to mistreat Indians, Africans and other subjects, etc.

It seems the colonial empire leaders and citizens still have not learned from their lessons of colonial abuse. They never realized that it was their own fault that drove their victims to seek independence. They never thought that their dogs would bite them after they maltreated them.

 

[heliobacter]

Genghis Khan's empire is considered the world's second largest one.

wasn't it the largest? we've got an exhibition about genghis khan here ATM, where they told us so.

edit:

The Mongol Empire (Cyrillic: Их Монгол Улс) (1206–1368) was the largest contiguous (the land streched uninterrupted by borders or stretches of water) land empire in world history.

ok, the largest CONTIGUOUS empire.

 

[Silverbackman]

I meant to vote for the Mongol Empire but it was under "Ghengis Khan Empire" so I mis

I meant to vote for the Mongol Empire but it was under "Ghengis Khan Empire" so I missed it. I think that option should be changed to "Mongol Empire" to avoid confusion.

Also, where is Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty China? Those were one of the golden years of the Chinese Empire.

Same with Maurya Empire and Gupta dynasty of India. Thos should be in the poll as well.

 

[Jagger]

There was no Arab Empire. There were just many Caliphates (Damascus, Baghdad, Cordoba...). They were all Arabic-speaking and Muslim, but it was not politically unified.

There was an Arab Empire, and it was unified under a single government from 632 to 750, when it was first ruled by the Rashidun Caliphate, followed by the Umayyad Caliphate. It was only from 750 that
the Arab Empire split between the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, both of which lasted for several centuries more.

The Arab Empire should be included on the list for two main reasons:

1. It was the largest empire the world had yet seen (13.2 million square km at its peak), and its size was not surpassed until the Mongol Empire centuries later.
2. It had numerous achievements in the arts, sciences literature, philosophy, engineering, technology, etc. that could quite easily rival the achievements of the other empires on the list.

 

[DavidCoutts]

Has to be The Empire on Which The Sun Never Set; at it's height, the British Empire controlled a third of the Earth.

As to the "What have the Romans ever done for us?" questions, I'm always amused by people who seem to expect a moral obligation from ANY Empire. The British Empire, like the Romans before them, were out to take whatever they could get. We raped, pillaged and burned on a scale that would have made Vikings drop to their knees and shout "We're not worthy!".

Like all Empires, the British put their own interests first. If they "civilised" a country, that was a happy coincidence, not the main objective.

 

[galychanyn]

The Roman Empire of course!

 

[^ lynx ^]

Has to be The Empire on Which The Sun Never Set; at it's height, the British Empire controlled a third of the Earth.

Ermm, that quote was used by the spaniards to refer to the spanish empire.

 

[Hus]

It would have to be Ghengis Khan's in terms of expanse/size, it was twice that of the Roman Empire (which would get my durability Empire vote) and four times that of Alexander the Great's.

 

[NewEngland]

The United States Empire is the "greatest" to date but will probably be the shortest lived.

 

[Imperium Romanorum]

Byzantine Empire

Ῥωμανία
Rhōmanía
Romania
Imperium Romanum
Eastern Roman Empire
Byzantine Empire