What is the greatest empire ever existed?

[L.D.Brousse]

The Romans were the Borg of their day snuffing out cultures, languages and assimilating them when able. Their impact is still felt to this day on a good portion of the Globe. They also gave rise to the Christian west

 

[DavidCoutts]

The Romans were the Borg of their day snuffing out cultures, languages and assimilating them when able. Their impact is still felt to this day on a good portion of the Globe. They also gave rise to the Christian west

Didn't do that well up here, old boy. A hundred years attempting to completely pacify and conquer Scotland cost them up to 50,000 Romans killed. Including an entire Legion slaughtered to the last man, if you believe the legends. To say nothing of the expense of building two huge walls.

The Roman's attitude to Scotland was summed up by George MacDonald Fraiser, "Too hot to handle and not worth the trouble anyway."

The Romans do not impress me. Cowards, hypocrites and sadists. They were great at fighting in large groups and their battlefield discipline was second to none. But without a shield wall to hide behind, they were nothing special. One on one against a Pict, Celt or German, the Roman was going to come second.

PS: love the Knight Templar avatar.:grin:

 

[L.D.Brousse]

Yea Hadrian's wall If they can't beat them wall them in .I have a big chunk of Scot running in my veins as well. What was the main export from England the Roman's wanted?

 

[DavidCoutts]

Gold, tin etc, I would imagine. The land was also more fertile in the South. That's why the Danes were so determined to conquer the Wessex; it was the richest of the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms.

 

[Taranis]

The Romans were the Borg of their day snuffing out cultures, languages and assimilating them when able. Their impact is still felt to this day on a good portion of the Globe. They also gave rise to the Christian west

The Romans didn't give rise to the Christian West. It was the 'barbarian' tribes (from the Roman perspective) who brought down the (Western) Roman Empire and picked it's pieces while adopting Christianity.

It also depends on what type of Christianity we're talking about. The Goths and the Vandals practiced Arianism, a denomination that was considered heretical by the Romans. What made the Franks / Clovis peculiar is that directly converted from Germanic polytheism to Roman Catholicism. Without this step, things could have developed into a complete different direction. If you take a look at the eastern Slavic people, they adopted a brand of Christianity that was modeled after the Byzantine Empire (who for all purposes, saw themselves as their heirs of the Roman Empire, and for most of their time, called themselves "Romans").

 

[Alan]

How comes Egypt, Parthia, Scythia, Media, Persia, Ayyubid Dynasty, Huns are not on that list?

 

[adamo]

Of course the Roman Empire which lasted a millennia was the greatest empire there ever was; the influence of the latins left it's mark linguistically in Spain,Portugal,France and Romania.

 

[American Idiot]

I said Alexander the Great's empire, but not for any obvious reason. IMHO, it had many of the same luxuries as Rome, but one thing I liked about Alexander's was his attitude toward the people he conquered. He didnt impose his own religion or even culture among his subjects, from what I understand. Maybe I am wrong about that, but if true, it seems he had some degree of respect for those he meant to rule over where as with Rome, it always looked down on the people it subjugated even if it did adopt some of their gods and romanize them.

of course Alexander's empire was around the Mediterranean. Dont know how he would have felt if he had conquered parts of "barbarian" Europe to north of him. (although to him, just about any non-Greek speaker was probably a barbarian)

 

[EastAnglian]

I'm biased but for me: 1) British Empire, 2) Roman, 3) Greek. The British Empire gave us: Democracy reborn(originally Greek), The industrialised world, Lots of Modernisation of Medicine, a unified language around the world and crumpets!

 

[toyomotor]

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.

The Mongol Empire was the largest contiguous empire in the world ever. Undisputable fact! But the greatest? How do you want to define greatest? By its military might? By its wealth? By its contribution to Science, Arts and Education? The question is far too broad and needs clear definition before it can be answered with any authority.

 

[halfalp]

Well, Greateast like ( Large ) or greateast like ( Prestige ). Empire is a false word for a lot of political institution, ( Japan, an empire ? ...) technically Mongols had a very large territory on control, but they were nomadics at the same time and when Gengis Khan died, they go back in central asia and create different and semi-indepedant Khaganat. They were very decentralisated so i dont think we can really call Empire, with peoples with an imperium of all lands that the mongols influence had on control. I think the british commonwealth is a bad exemple too for the same reason, of the decentralisation of european colonialisme, very difficult to control all the territory that are vassals ? of the crown at this time. I think Roman empire were the only institution we can clearly appeal Empire. But in our modern day their is a lot of thing that we can call empire... United states have a great cultural imperialism and maybe a lot of economic deal with all the world and if TAFTA is apply one day, it's gonna become worst for us. China also have a lot of economic deal with others countries for agriculture or use of local resources

 

[Salento]

United States of America (World Wide Influence) - Roman Empire

 

[XipeTotek]

British Empire > Rome Empire > Mongol Empire (this is wrong term because mongol empire army %70 turk) > Ottoman Empire > Huns

 

[Alcuin]

True the british empire was greater however one ponders about the positive effects it had upon human civilization. We need only to look at the middle east conflicts, kashmir, Africa and what not to get a feel about the british legacy in the world they conquered

That's an absurd argument that can be applied to every Empire, Kingdom, etc in history. One may as well blame all Anglo-Scottish political issues on the Romans for having built Hadrian's Wall across Northern England, forever dividing Britain in two and allowing an artificial wound across the heart of the country to fester for four centuries...

You may be right about the greatness in geographical extent of the British Empire.

However you should read this book:

The Evil Empire by Steven A. Grasse
101 Ways that England Ruined The World

Blaming England for the actions of post-Union Britain and supporting your opinions by referencing the most obviously-partisan book ever written on the Empire? How wonderfully Scottish.

You are Member of Parliament for Argyll & Bute and I claim my £5!

There is no direct blood link to the patricians or aristocracy of Republican Rome nor to the Julio-Claudian or Flavian emperors

I concur, though it's probably not unreasonable to say that every person in the former Roman Empire could probably trace a lineage back to some upper-class family or ruling dynasty of Rome. Of course, saying it and proving it are two very different things...

The Great pyramid of Khufu at Gizeh was constructed four thousand years ago and remained the world's tallest building until the 1880's when Paris' Eiffel Tower was erected

You're forgetting about Lincoln Cathedral!

You mean the Normans won "the entire land of England"

Scotland was never theirs

It may as well have been, if you consider the number of Anglo-Normans invited to settle there in the days of David I and the influence they had on the court and culture of the Kingdom of Scotland.

Yea Hadrian's wall If they can't beat them wall them in .I have a big chunk of Scot running in my veins as well. What was the main export from England the Roman's wanted?

Wheat, timber and dogs, apparently.

 

[Cynthia14]

I would say the Roman Empire was the greatest because it stretched so far around the globe, and had an influence on the people it touched, although it was greedy and also destructive. The Ottoman empire also went far but did not convert all the countries to Islam. Eventually the West threw it out through warfare. However the culture had an influence and is still revered for it's beauty in Spain. Alexander the Great went a conquering and is still remembered in Afghanistan and India. He repeated as he had done in Persia the marriages of Persian women to his Greek soldiers, in India, but destroyed beautiful buildings of the Persian Empire, some of which still stand. All the European Colonialists went back to their original countries except the American, (both North and South), Australians and New Zealanders, so Africa was the only large continent to get all of it's countries back again. Cynthia14

 

[Maleth]

The Ottoman empire also went far but did not convert all the countries to Islam. Eventually the West threw it out through warfare. However the culture had an influence and is still revered for it's beauty in Spain. Cynthia14

This is a mistake so many people make. Turks and Arabs both spread Islam but they are two different peoples (empires) and not much love between them. The buildings that are still revealed for their beauty in Spain were by 'Arabs' (who probably were more Berbers) with a Moroccan influence. Turks dominated mostly the Balkans at the height of their empire, besides Arab countries.

 

[Cihan]

Positive effects of British empire?
US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand. All prosperous societies founded by British Empire.

 

[Cyrus]

By considering the known civilized world, the greatest empire was certainly the Persian empire.

 

[Anfänger]

By considering the known civilized world, the greatest empire was certainly the Persian empire.

What a shame it is not even included in the list. The Persian Empire ruled over 50% of humanity at that time. No empire after it came above 50%.

 

[Carlos]

The Spanish Empire where the sun never hid