Interesting that Alexander only got passing mention at the end of the Persian Empire and no mention of his successors.
Just think: no Romans running Jerusalem when Christ was born; no Roman empire; no "Romance" languages (French, Italian, Spanish). There would have been no Roman Vatican.
A fundamental determination of history.
I would of said:
Egypt
Greece
Roman
England
Spain
US
anything promulgating BCE/CE is woke bullSchiff
Some contrast!
“The Ottoman Empire (under Suleiman)...embraced ethnic diversity and religious tolerance.”
“The British Empire is now more often seen as a dark and often brutal period of colonialism.”
It is interesting that the majority of the former colonies of GB have done far better than other former colonies.
Very interesting. Thanks to all posters. History BUMP. The forward operating bases (mosques) of Islam are in practically every country in the world. The number of mosques in Bangladesh stands at more than 250,000.
Are they kidding? Seizing children from Christian families and training them as Janissaries indoctrinated in the Islamic tenets of jihad and then sending them to war against Christian lands is about as far from religious tolerance as I can imagine.
The Mongol Empire influenced modern day Russia. You can see that they were not quite inspired by the ideals of the Englitenment in Western Europe. So basically the Russian are a bunch of brutes. They had to be because they had to fight off the Mongols.
The Arab empire under the Umayyad and Abbasid caliphs had more territory under its control than several of the empires listed.
The Spanish Empire had a lasting impact—consider how many countries in the Western Hemisphere have Spanish as the official language (and in most cases the most widely used language).
There is no doubt the Roman Empire (and Republic before it) was the most consequential in human history.
The Ottoman Empire lasted an “incredible” six centuries ... and does the author mention how long western Rome lasted, no less eastern Rome?
Roman Republic 5 centuries + western Roman Empire another 5 centuries = 10 centuries, talk about incredible!
Eastern Roman Empire (or Byzantium) not including its predecessor - 9 centuries, no, no, can’t say incredible, only the Ottoman Empire is incredible
The Ottoman Empire was tolerant, very tolerant
Proof: a small number of Jews, Christians and others weren’t forced to convert or induced to convert by being discriminated against.
Egypt used to be majority Christian (and spoke Egyptian). Under the Ottomans, Egypt became a majority Muslim country (and Arabic replaced their national language).
The Middle East was majority Christian (and spoke Aramaic). Under the Ottomans, the Middle East became majority Muslim (and Arabic replaced Aramaic).
If we were fair, we’d recognize that went on under the Ottomans as cultural genocide. And, we’d recognize that the Ottomans, like the Caliphate before them, made one after another attempt to conquer Christian Europe.
We should strive for consistency in re-writing history, and we should suspect that characterizing some empires as good and others as bad means that there’s an agenda. Generally, those who see things as black or white reveal that they are unqualified to judge the shades of gray that we find in the real world.
The best computer game I ever played was Sid Meir’s Civilization. It was 1000 times better than Risk. it was a very clever learning tool on how civilizations grow powerful. The computer opponents were good too. I loved mismatched wars with civilizations where I had bombers and they had bronze spears. I was addicted to it. I would play 72 hours straight. Finally in a semi sober state I would nuke my last enemy knowing that the game would end declaring that all life on earth was dead from global winter. I loved that game.
bookmark
On the topic of a different empire/age. It’s interesting how the mass migration and invasion of the sea people pretty much decimated the Bronze Age and all of its glory,
Our empire.
Post WWII, we have become an empire (even if not self-aware by the majority or rejected by some), and post 1991 this empire has even taken on as with most empires its military / expeditionary / expansionist face.
Iraq (2003): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_invasion_of_Iraq
Libya (2011): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2011_military_intervention_in_Libya
Syria (2014): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_United_States_intervention_in_the_Syrian_civil_war
Venezuela (2020): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Gideon_(2020)
Ukraine (2022): Current
We define the West (et al) and much of the WORLD (Internet, English as the business/science language, USD for trade, Hollywood, international organizations we in reality lead) today. We are an economic, military, political and cultural focal point and Washington has become not just a capital of the US, but defining of the entire West.
If you consider the expanse of our influence and military presence, NO EMPIRE ON EARTH has ever been this large, not even the British and Mongol empires which are usually considered as the largest empires to have ever existed.
Our military presence today:
Around the world: https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/INTERACTIVE-US-military-presence-around-the-world.png?w=770&resize=770%2C770&quality=80
Latin America (zoomed in): https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/INTERACTIVE-US-military-presence-in-Latin-America.png?w=770&resize=770%2C770&quality=80
Europe (zoomed in): https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/INTERACTIVE-US-military-presence-in-Europe.png?w=770&resize=770%2C770&quality=80
Middle East (zoomed in): https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/INTERACTIVE-US-military-presence-in-the-Middle-East.png?w=770&resize=770%2C770&quality=80
Africa has become increasingly important: https://th-thumbnailer.cdn-si-edu.com/1i0nm45rAx4MuHJTBjOZwe0RJ4c=/fit-in/1072x0/https://tf-cmsv2-smithsonianmag-media.s3.amazonaws.com/filer/76/45/7645fe6c-a982-4828-bdff-7043074884b2/counterterrorismmapweb.png
Empire defined: an extensive group of states or countries under a single supreme authority, formerly especially an emperor or empress.
By this definition, we are an empire. Maybe not entirely like all of the others, but even they all had their differences between each others. Rome was a true republic in the beginning, while the Mongols were under a central figure...
