scotsboyuk

Which empire is your candidate for the title of 'geatest'? Please don't feel constrained by the options in the poll, I merely presented some of the more well known options.

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TopHatter

Probably the one that the sun never set upon....can't remember the name off the top of my head....

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scotsboyuk

I think you are meaning the mighty Swiss Empire!

Seriously though, why do you say the British Empire?

Incidentally, considering what you are reading, many consider the dusk to have finally fallen on January 24th 1965 ...

jon_j_rambo

Think I gotta vote for Roman Empire. If we're talking Kingdoms, well, the greatest is not of this world.

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dalem

Historical context makes such choices a bit haphazard, but I vote for the British Empire. The Romans may have controlled more or less of the percentage of their known world, but I simply have more in common with the culture and style of the British Empire; even though I am descended from both ancestrally - my father's family is Italian and my mom's ancestors were one of the Tilly families on the Mayflower.

-dale

scotsboyuk

I voted for the Roman Empire, it's legacy created the Western world and it's power was arguably the greatest of any power in history, including the present day U.S.A. People flocked to be called Roman for centuries, their cultural dominance would have Coca Cola and McDonalds advertisers shaking in their boots and their army was the greatest fighting force on Earth for almost five hundred years.

@jon

I agree, Tolkien's Valinor truely is great.

eMachine

of course roman empire, oldest and greatest but did you add only old empires? maybe we are missing ottoman emipre too... if you do not vote olds then gotta add ottomans... maybe you dont want and like ottoman empire

TopHatter

I say British for 3 reasons. The first 2 reasons are somewhat pithy and the 3rd is more serious

1. Because I'm of Scots descent on my fathers side

2. I'm something of an anglophile

3. What other empire accomplished so much, for so long, having started from what appears to be a minor series of islands off the coast of Europe?

Praxus

During both the Persian Empire and Alexander's Empire the Romans were still a small city-state waging war with the Etruscans, Latins, and the Gauls. Not to mention there were many political problems, because the Plebs and the Patricians were "upset" with each other.

Rome didn't trully leave the Italian Peninsula until the 2nd Punic War.

Praxus

Rome started as a city-state (supposidly of Latins and Trojans) and over a 900 year period conquered the whole of the med. Also I might add that without Rome, England would have been a series of insignificant islands, in all likelyhood.

TopHatter

True enough, Rome (like all empires I suppose) started from humble origins. However, Rome was not on an island.
Also, you are entirely correct about the Rome/England connection.

scotsboyuk

Western civilisation as a whole owes Rome a huge debt, it is Roman values and culture that we basue our own societies upon and seek to spread to others. The Roman Empire is arguably the most influential human construct ever created.

Praxus

The Roman Republic was far more influentual in the Age of Enlightenment and the founding of modern western civilization after the Dark Ages then the Empire ever was.

scotsboyuk

The Enlightenment led on from earlier periods, which were influenced by the Empire, thus both periods have very strong influences upon modern society. Some of of the most powerful influences we still feel are the simplest e.g. measurements, alphabet, etc.

Praxus

Most of the Roman Empire was already conquered by the end of the Roman Republic (Gual, Greece, Parts of North Africa, Spain, Italy, Siciliy, Large Chunks of Turkey, etc...). The Roman Alphabet came from Phonecia and the same measurements were around during the Republic as during the Empire.