aalan94 said:

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Well, it depends. If your going tortoise, it's Rome. If you're going Hare, it's Alexander's.

Rome's empire was 1.7 million square miles. Alex's was 2 million. And he put it together in basically 10 years. His was more audacious and amazing, and indeed had long lasting cultural effects over the whole length of it. The Afghan pokol hats that the mujuhaddin wear are basically Macedonian hats.

But in terms of overall achievements, Rome wins.

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Old RV Ag said:

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MGS said:

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I just like to point out that this entire discussion uses letters from the Roman alphabet.

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And Arabic numbers

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Old RV Ag said:

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MGS said:

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I just like to point out that this entire discussion uses letters from the Roman alphabet.

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And Arabic numbers

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BQ78 said:

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So you're saying their necks had a permanent bend and their chins rested on their chest as they checked their text messages?

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Rabid Cougar said:

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Illuminaggie said:

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My current fascination is Sumer. The amount of "mundane" accounts of their daily lives gives a wonderfully detailed view of the lives of ordinary citizens and how much of their routines are little different than our own, almost 7,000 years later.

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I toured Sumer in 2009. Made Ur and Uruk. Most locals were quiet friendly. Some definitely were not.

Ur was extremely cool for a person who walks with his head down around archeological sites. Right next to a major U.S. military base and not far from a major city. ( Al Nasiriya, Iraq) . The Ziggurat and Abraham's house. Mentioned in the book of Genesis.. Ground is covered in millions of pottery shards. As you walk down into excavated tombs and walls there is nothing but layers upon layers of pottery shards 30 feet deep. Ur was a port city during its time yet now it is 160 miles from the sea. There is even a souvenir stand!

Uruk is a bit different. There has not been the archeological restorations that has taken place at Ur and if you didn't know what it was you would think how odd these sand hills are in an area that there is no hills. It is out in the middle of no where. There is a big fence built completely around it with security guards. It was built by the Japanese. What is neat about the desert surrounding Uruk is that there are seas shells everywhere.. NO souvenir stand.

Just a strange feeling when you are standing on the banks of the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in that area. I am used to walking around archeological sites 800- 1200 years old. When you are I in Sumer, you are in REALLY old stuff.

I have lots of photos of my tour but no way to share them on here.

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BQ78 said:

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What the Amerindian groups of Mexico did in the environment they were in and without inventing the wheel is just amazing. Egypt never had to contend with the Nile going dry but the Mexican advanced civilizations did have major droughts. They invented a calendar that is better and more accurate than what we use today. It was a strange culture like the Sumerians but it developed in the tropics where water was at a premium. Until the VAB was built at the Kennedy Space Center they had built the largest structures in the Western Hemisphere and they were not particularly adept at architectural engineering. Is that best? Depends upon how you define it, what could they have done given the advantages of the Egyptians and the Romans (bunch of copy cats). The Amerindians of Mexico did not copy from anyone, they developed their culture in isolation (Spyderman may disagree).

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