I brought up the Ghurids and admit that they don't really belong on this list. I did not think this was get that official!

lmao. fair enough

I think the Ghurids may compete for: "The largest empire that nobody has ever heard of..."

Greek Empire 10
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 17
Mongolian Empire 10
Chinese Empire 14 (+1)
Persian Empire 11
Japanese Empire 7 (-1)
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
Egyptian Empire 9
Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

The Chinese Empire...It may be a biased vote, but meh. Japanese Empire? What empire? You mean those few years before they got knocked back down again? Definitely worth a -1.

Greek Empire 10
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 17
Mongolian Empire 10
Chinese Empire 14 (+1)
Persian Empire 11
Japanese Empire 6 (-1)
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
Egyptian Empire 9
Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

Ooops, forgot to change Japan's number.

Nice game! Good idea fasces!

My variations are mostly based on what heritage an empire left to nowdays cultures and civilizations.

Some "-1" are because I'm not even sure that that "empires" should be in the list.
I've also added some empires I can't figure out why they're not in the list: I hope this was legit....

Greek Empire 11 (+1)
American Empire 10 (-1) (not sure what it means. Has it finished before 1920?)
British Empire 17 (+1)
Roman Empire 18 (+1)
Mongolian Empire 9 (-1)
Chinese Empire 14
Persian Empire 11
Japanese Empire 6
Ottoman Empire 10 (-1)
Akkadian Empire 9 (+1)
Egyptian Empire 10 (+1)
Islamic Empire 13 (+1)
Byzantine Empire 11 (+1)
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 7 (-1)
Napoleonic Empires 11 (+1)
Russian Empire 11 (+1)
Spanish Empire 10

What is the Islamic Empire? Being from Texas, it would never have occurred to me to refer to Comancheria as an Empire. Is there some iteration of Egypt that is intended to qualify as the Egyptian Empire? Are we talking Ramses II or the Fatamids? In a similar vein, what is the Persian Empire?

I'd also like to point out that Venice is missing as are Assyria and Babylon and Portugal.

But to me the Byzantines survival through the centuries is worth singing the praises of. It is worth keeping in mind that Heraclius was at the head of the first army that the Arabs ran into as they first came out of the desert, and they had conquered Spain and Sind 600 years before Byzantium finally went down.

How about being fair and adding the Incans/Aztexs/Mayans ??? or are we being truly euroasian-centric here?

Also some of these 'empires' are stupid:

Egyptian empire: no shit - what era are you talking about?
Byzantine Empire: really it is the continuum of the Roman empire... get your head around the idea that Roman continued after the fall of Rome.
Japanese Empire: UM... Which one?
Persian Empire: UM... Which one?
Chinese Empire: UM... Which one?


Actually this whole thread pisses me off. What is 'best' and what isn't is just a dumb concept. Better to ask 'what historical empire are you the most interested in?'

this voting rigorrmorale just defeats the purpose.

Mostly agree with kaner, but I joined this thread because I found funny the +1/-1 game.

@Guaroz: You can only vote +1 or -1 once at a time. You can vote multiple times but 2 people have to vote between you and your last vote.

@Kaner: The list is based on all the nominations that were done prior to me starting the elimination game.

The Egyptian Empire is all the Egyptian Dynasty's prior to Ptolemy. The Japanese is WW2 Japan, the Persian Empire is the Achaemenid Empire.

As for China I'm not sure which dynasty/empire Holt was referring to, but he was the one who nominated China so ask him (I already did and he has yet to respond):
This is the post where China was nominated:
"I feel I may be a bit biased in this since I am Asian. But I'd have to say the brief stint of the Chinese Empire struck me as the most impressive. Getting millions of people to follow one person (even for a short period)and having a huge empire that promoted trade, commerce and business with several countries, at the time, is no easy feat."

Anyway, here is the list with updated names:
Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 10
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 17
Mongolian Empire 10
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 11
Japanese Empire 6
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

@fasces I'd just like to say that regardless of our conflicting ideas on the Americans and Islamic empires, I have really, really enjoyed this thread. I have learned quite a bit and have had a really good times talking and reading about all this. But I have an idea. Why don't we keep going with this until there are only 5 left, then start a new thread (or continue on this one) with a new series of empires (Aztecs, Venetians, Spanish, Russian, etc) and wait until we have 5 left there, then add the two lists together and go until we have just one left? Maybe that's too ambitious, but I just really like this idea.

Anywho, here is my vote.

Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 9 (-1)
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 17
Mongolian Empire 10
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 12 (+1)
Japanese Empire 6
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

Greek: The little, history-loving kid inside me died a bit with this vote. While I would never deny the fact that Athenian art, culture, music, architecture and the such were magnificent, their government was also extremely corrupt. This was made worse by a claim of enlightenment and equality, which was a complete lie (the Melian Dialogue), and both the Athenian and Macedonian empires fell shortly after their peak.

Persian: Noted for their religious tolerance, a lack of slavery, and stunning culture, I have to give them my vote. I find they are often forgotten in the West, but rulers like Cyrus were truly Great. Plus, it was a combination of Greek and Persian culture that gave us the Hellenistic Period; which in turn was a founding element of the Renaissance, arguably the peak of European cultural output.

@fasces. oops... sorry, I didn't read it. My bad. Couldn't we add the rule that every player can add 1 (and only one) empire?
Thanks for all the explanations about empires. Pity Japanese is considered only for WWII. Also, being the most recent in the list doesn't help it.
btw nobody explained what American is supposed to be... is pre-Colombo civilizations?

Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 10
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 18 (+1)
Mongolian Empire 9 (-1)
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 11
Japanese Empire 6
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

Sorry, didn't read previous post:

Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 9
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 18 (+1)
Mongolian Empire 9 (-1)
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 12
Japanese Empire 6
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

Armerican Empire, would that be the USA? If so, I'd argue that's not an empire...
Also, my thoughts on Nuclear Diplomacy are probably a better read than this list...

I could've told you in advance that the Roman Empire or the British Empire would win this, simply because we're too westernized to let any of the eastern empires win :P

Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 9
American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 18
Mongolian Empire 9
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 12
Japanese Empire 5 (-1)
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

The British Empire controlled so much for so long that I think that it is almost a given that they are the best. And the Japanese Empire, although it lasted for a long time they were so far behind in technology, I mean they were feudal until the 1800's.

Opps forgot to (+1) British.

Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 9
American Empire 11
British Empire 17(+1)
Roman Empire 18
Mongolian Empire 9
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 12
Japanese Empire 5 (-1)
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

I disagree with multiple votes, but since I can I will :P

Greek (Athenian and Macedonian) Empires 10 (+1)
American Empire 11
British Empire 16(-1)
Roman Empire 18
Mongolian Empire 9
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 12
Japanese Empire 5 (-1)
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 8

+1 to Greek: No matter what variable you use, the Athenians-Macedonians defeated the Achaemenids, the most powerful and richer empire (who also numbered millions) of the time. And Alexander went to Persia with all guns blazing and knocked them down in 4 years. Which other empire has done this?

-1 to British simply because they ruled with gunpowder over tribes!

Perhaps the list should be divided in pre-gunpowder or precolombian empires and so on

These games usually have a Hall of Fame and a Hall of Shame. Upon reaching 20, an empire enters Hall of Fame and upon reaching 0, the empire enters Hall of Shame. In either case, a new empire takes place instead so as to have a constant amount of empires and not an ever-growing list :)

And I don't see the Meso and South American empires on par with those listed so that's why no one nominated them yet I guess. At that point, it's just naming any empire one remembers, Zulu, Mali, whatever :)

I've never played it like that...

We can do other lists later, but this list was entirely based on peoples choice.

The empires brought up in the first 4 days were the ones used to compile this list.

"btw nobody explained what American is supposed to be... is pre-Colombo civilizations?"
America is the USA, one of the greatest empires of all time and certainly the greatest empire around today.

American Empire 11
British Empire 16
Roman Empire 18
Mongolian Empire 10 (+1)
(generic) Chinese Empire 14
Achaemenid Persian Empire 12
Japanese Empire 5
Ottoman Empire 11
Akkadian Empire 8
(pre-Ptolemy) Egyptian Empire 9
(generic) Islamic Empire 12
Byzantine Empire 10
Mughal Empire 10
Comanche Indian Empire 7 (-1) more of a nation then an empire

No. América is a continent. USA takes the name of the continent, cos it had no name, no identity.

Fine then, Britain is the name of a group of islands, not an empire, so take them off the list as well...

America is both the name of a continent and a country that occupies a good chunk of that continent, just like the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country that occupies most of the British Isles.

People who complain about America not being a real name bugs me because nobody complains about the UK even though the UK and the US are exactly the same in terms of naming.

No. The name of the country is USA. America is a continent.
What's a nation "fasces"? Just a paper (a big one, if you want, but a paper anyway).

USA is not a nation its a state if you want to get technical.

And the British Empire is not the name of a country that existed in the past. The correct name was the Commonwealth of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, or the British Empire for short.

America is the short form of the United States of America, and the citizens of the USA are AMERICANS.

*United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland prior to 1919

Also the Chinese Empire never existed in the past. Just list of a list of dynasties.

The Roman Empire was called the SPQR and then something else that I forget.

Stop trying to turn this into a battle of semantics, you know exactly what was meant by the American Empire and you are wrong in what you are saying.

It's not the technicality what bugs me. Well, it is. But a logical one.
It happens that according to your convention. I'm AMERICAN (I'm not using your capital letters, but mine) but I'm not "american".

It's your convention what bugs me. You take a name, that you share, yes, cos you are americans too. But it's not only yours fasces. We're not any less americans than you are.

That's why in american spanish, USA is EUA and "american" is "estadounidense". You will call yourselves as you like it, but you would do well considering that there are other 700 millions americans who don't feel entirely comfortable with that.

It's a matter of conventions, and you play a game called "diplomacy". But in real diplomacy, those little conventions are quite important (if you want to be diplomatic, cos probably you won't care at all, and actually I don't care too much either, but I thought it was o.k. to let you meet this point of view)

oh, and conventions CAN change, cos we spanish-americans all the live called the african-americans "negros" and no spanish-african-american felt it was as bad as english-african-american felt.

Nowadays, must spanish-american people call african-americans, "afroamericanos".

First of I am Canadian, one of the so called '700 million' that are offended by Americans ripping off their name.

I'm not offended, I take it for what it is.

Ireland is part of the British Isles but do you see people from the Republic of Ireland complain that they aren't British subjects?

The United States of America is a country whose short form is America. There is also a continent called North America and a continent called South America, the landmass is called The Americas. All of them come of the Anglican name for Amerigo, who was the Italian explorer that the continent was named after.

As somoene from the Americas but not from America I am not at all offended by the Americans right to call themselves American and I am not sure what your problem is either.