Greatest empires of all time

[Gangerolf]

The British Empire (not nowadays of course, but 100 years ago).

Bah...the chinese. They were greater earlier, and lasted the longest. They had cities twice the size of rome during the same time period. 1/2 the world's population can't be wrong...

I think it's closer to 1/5. BTW, "can't be wrong"? I don't think China is the nicest place to live in... (not the worst either though)

[Gangerolf]

Originally posted by Faboba
The only hyponated power I can think of from our history books is Austria-Hungary...

Denmark-Norway (1380?-1814)?


Sonic,
was the Mongol Empire larger than the Soviet Union at it's biggest?

[Faboba]

Originally posted by Gangerolf


Denmark-Norway (1380?-1814)?


Sonic,
was the Mongol Empire larger than the Soviet Union at it's biggest?

Yes.... but I can't think of that, can I?

Unless....

Am I you? OH MY GOD! I'VE BEEN LIVING A LIE!!!

But if you're still here.... who's grooming the badgers for the badger parade?

[Saint Marcus]

Republic of the Netherlands!

but in all honesty:

1. Britain
2. Rome
3. China

China may have been bigger and around longer, it didn't impact the world (both short and long term) as much as Britain, or Rome did.

[Sonic]

Yes, Mongol Empire was bigger. In east it continued up to korean peninsula, in south - to southern indostan peninsula's part and indo-china, in west - to modern day Belarus, in north - to about half of current Russia.

[Saint Marcus]

was the Mongol Empire larger than the Soviet Union at it's biggest?

more importantly: was the Mongol Empire larger than the British Empire at it's biggest?

[Sonic]

No it wasn't. I only said Mongol Empire was largest continuous empire, and British empire wasn't continuous

[Gangerolf]

Originally posted by Faboba


Yes.... but I can't think of that, can I?

Unless....

Am I you? OH MY GOD! I'VE BEEN LIVING A LIE!!!

But if you're still here.... who's grooming the badgers for the badger parade?

Yes. You are in fact me. And the badgers groom (lick) themselves, very low maintenance pets if you must now

[King of Rasslin]

AMERICA!!!!!!!!

[Boris Godunov]

Originally posted by markusf
Egypt is the greatest of all time, its been around longer then all the other empires combined. A empires greatness is usually defined by how long it existed and how big it was.. The second greatest would have to have been rome...

Oh pish-posh! Historians measure "greatness" by cultural and historical impact.

Egypt lasted so long because of relative geographic isolation. However, their cultural impact on future civilizations outside of Egypt was pretty minimal, romantic Egyptology aside.

Rome still gets it. It is the epitome of the gigantic empire that engulfs many peoples and dissimenates its culture to a huge area. Roman culture still has a dramatic impact on the Western world today.

That being said, China's empire could be said to be Rome's equal. While I would say its cultural impact is more localized, there's no denying its power, longevity and richness of history.

[Boris Godunov]

The British Empire at its greatest extent probably edges out the Mongol Empire in pure square footage.

I wouldn't put the Mongol Empire very high on the list, anyway. Cultural impact was small if any, and the historical impact limited to a relatively small segment of time.

[Alinestra Covelia]

I'd go with China, but I'll admit that has a lot to do with their achievements in the appropriate timeframe. To have united a country of that sheer size, and to have it survive for such a long time against increasing odds is quite a feat. Plus, four massively influential inventions/discoveries were chalked up to their names - the printing press (centuries before Gutenberg brought it to Europe), the compass (both the magnetic and the mechanical chariot types), gunpowder (used in cannon and naval missiles, though the Chinese did not perfect any portable such weapons), and paper money (indirectly leading to an early banking economic structure).

However, this early self-sufficiency also worked against the Chinese. Later dynasties, convinced that the outside world had nothing to offer them, became introverted and refused to trade or have dealings with outsider powers such as Britain and France. Unfortunately, by that time the British were very good at making ships and cannon, as the Qing dynasty found out the hard way.

Although no longer the cultural superpower it once was, China is still culturally very important in Asia, as the vast numbers of overseas students here attest (especially the South Koreans, who have established "Little Koreas" in most major cities). Economically too China is heralded to be the next powerhouse in the coming century, though only time will tell. Most major companies and every major country has a policy as regards China, whether it's for business or for politics.

China's a wonderful country, past and present, and it's well worth a foreigner's time to visit. Although the political situation is still problematic to many nations, the people and the heritage here are fascinating and incredibly varied. A few trips to the South showed me how even individual towns had their own unique cultures and histories through thousands of years.

[Dinner]

Grrr, like Firaxis sonic doesn't know the difference between the being English and being British. It was the BRITISH and not English Empire!

(disgruntled half-Scot walks a way grumbling...)

[Boris Godunov]

And what is supposed to be the German Empire? Does he mean 1871 Bismarck, or 1941 Third Reich, or 800 Charlemagne?

I'm surprised nobody at all selected French. No Napoleonites here?

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Saint Marcus
more importantly: was the Mongol Empire larger than the British Empire at it's biggest?

There was a thread on this in the civilizations forum and the British Empire was larger in over all land area. The Moguls had all of their land contigious though if that counts for anything. One thing is certain though and that is the power Queen Victoria (theoretically) wielded far out weighed what the Khan had. Of course with 500 years of seporation one would expect that...