What is the greatest empire to ever live? by Austen Haynes
What is the greatest empire to ever live? A Brief History on the greatest empires to ever live
by Austen Haynes, thanks to Wikipedia esp. on Byzantine Empire
There were many great empires throughout the past, but which empire was the greatest at its height and for its time period? I am going to go through all of the greatest empires and decide which one was the greatest.
Mongol Empire (1206–1368)
The Mongol Empire was the largest connected empire in world history. At its peak it had over 100 million people. The Mongol Empire was founded by Genghis Khan in 1206 after unifying the Mongol – Turkic tribes, and numerous conquests throughout continental Eurasia. The Mongolians took pride in their ruthlessness. 30 Million people were killed under the rule of the Mongol Empire, and the population of China fell by half in 50 years of Mongol rule. The Mongols were very disciplined. After the death of Genghis Khan his third son, Ogedei Khan ruled the empire. After Ogedei's death in 1241, signs of the empire's later fall were shown. Kublai Khan ruled from 1260-1294, he was unable to keep his brother Hulagu and their cousin Berke from open warfare in 1263. The empire was separated into four khans, each ruled by a separate khan and overseen by the Great Khan. The Kipchak Khanate or the Golden Horde ruled Russia, the Ilkhanate ruled the Middle East, the Chagatai Khanate ruled over western Asia, and the Great Khan controlled Mongolia and eventually China. The empire reached its greatest extent under Kublai Khan with his conquest of China, and completed by his final victory over the Song Dynasty in 1279.
Kublai Khan
Kublai Khan twice attempted to invade Japan in search of gold. Both times the Samurai resisted greatly and the weather tore the fleets apart. The first attempted invasion was in 1274 with a fleet of 900 ships. The second invasion was in 1281 with a fleet of over 1,170 large war junks, each close to 240 feet long. After Kublai died in 1294, his heirs failed to maintain the Pax Mongolica. The Mongol Empire's golden age was long gone.
Roman Empire (September 2, 31 BC-476 AD)
Roman Empire at its greatest extent
Roman civilization grew out of the city-state of Rome, in the 9th century BC it was founded in the Italian Peninsula. During its twelve-century existence, the Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic to a vast empire. It came to dominate Western Europe and the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea through conquest and assimilation. However, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire. The western half of the empire, including Hispania, Gaul, and Italy, eventually broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th century; the eastern empire, governed from Constantinople, is referred to as the Byzantine Empire after AD 476, the traditional date for the "fall of Rome" and subsequent onset of the Middle Ages.
The Roman Empire was a great fighting civilization. The First Triumvirate was made up of the best military leader, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, the richest man in Rome, Marcus Licinius Crassus, and the best speaker in Rome, Gaius Julius Caesar. These three made bonds to each other and made alliances to each other through marriage. However, Crassus eventually died after a war with the Parthian Empire (the later Persian Empire).
Gaius Julius Caesar
Julia Caesar, Pompey's wife died and Pompey refused to marry someone from Caesar's family again. Pompey and Caesar ended up in a civil war. Caesar defeated Pompey's army first and Pompey retreated to the East. Caesar followed him and Pompey retreated again to Egypt. When Caesar got to Egypt Pompey was already killed. Caesar made a bond with Queen Cleopatra and brought her back to Rome. Caesar also expanded the Roman Empire in many conquests against Gallic tribes and even went as far to Britain but knew he couldn't beat them at the time. However on March 15, 44 BC, he was murdered by Brutus and Cassius. Marc Antony, Caesar's right hand man defeated them both after a war. The Second Triumvirate was made up of Augtustus "Octavian" Caesar, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, and Marc Antony. Lepidus retired and Marc Antony and Octavian began to fight with each other. Marc Antony, married with Cleopatra began civil war with Octavian. Octavian was winning and Marc Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide. Octavian named himself "princeps", not daring to make himself look like an emperor or king in fear of being murdered like Julius Caesar. Octavian brought Rome to its golden age.
After Augustus Caesar's death the Julio-Claudian dynasty began. From 14 AD-476 AD a long line of emperors ruled the Roman Empire. Even though there were some bad emperors, Rome stayed strong.
From 324 AD-337 AD Constantine I, made the Edict of Milan and declared Christianity the official religion. Constantine expanded the religion of Christianty to other regions.
476 AD is the year known as the "Fall of the Western Roman Empire". It is said that the Roman Empire fell from German invasions. However Rome's empire later continued in the east.
Byzantine Empire (395 AD-1453 AD)
Byzantine Empire – 1180
There is no official start of the Byzantine Empire but it most likely began in 395 Ad when the Roman Empire permanently split into Eastern and Western halves, following the death of Theodosius I. After the death of Constantine I, the capital city known as "New Rome", became known as Constantinople.
In 330, Constantinople was officially founded very near the location of Byzantium, however the populace commonly called it Constantinople. Constantine began the building of the great-fortified walls that were perhaps the most striking feature of the city. These walls, expanded and rebuilt in subsequent ages, combined with the fortified harbor and fleet, made Constantinople a virtually impregnable fortress, and certainly the most important fortress in the early Middle Ages. On several occasions in the hundreds of years to come, Constantinople would stand as the last bulwark of Roman civilization in the eastern Mediterranean, and indeed as the main fortification of Judeo-Christian civilization as a whole.
The reign of Justinian I, which began in 527 AD, saw a period of extensive imperial conquests of former Roman territories. The 6th century also saw the beginning of a long series of conflicts with the Byzantine Empire's traditional early enemies, such as the Sassanid Persians, Slavs and Bulgars.
Soon after the death of Justinian in 565, the Germanic Lombards, a former imperial tribe, invaded and conquered much of Italy. The Lombards continued to expand in northern Italy, taking Liguria in 640 and conquering most of the Exarchate of Ravenna in 751, leaving the Byzantines with control of only small areas around the bottom edge of Italy, plus some semi-independent coastal cities like Venice, Naples, Amalfi and Gaeta.
Arab attempts to conquer Constantinople failed often in the face of the Byzantine's strong city walls, and the skill of Byzantine generals and warrior-emperors such as Leo III the Isaurian (717–741). Once the assaults were repelled, the empire's recovery resumed.
The Byzatine Empire reached its post-Roman height under the Macedonian emperors of the late 9th, 10th and early 11th centuries. The soldier emperors Nicephoros II Phocas (963-969) and John I Tzimiskes (969-976) expanded the empire well into Syria, defeating the emirs of north-west Iraq and reconquering Crete and Cyprus. Basil II "The Bulgar-Slayer" (958 – December 15, 1025) was a Byzantine emperor from January 10, 976 to December 15, 1025. He led the Byzantine Empire to its greatest heights in nearly five centuries. However, he left no worthy heir and a long line of weak successors undid most of his achievements.
The succession of weak rulers who succeeded Basil II after 1025 disbanded the large armies, which had been defending the eastern provinces from attack; instead gold was stockpiled in Constantinople, ostensibly in order to hire mercenaries should troubles arise. In 1040, the Normans began attacking the Byzantine strongholds in southern Italy. In order to deal with them, a mixed force of mercenaries and conscripts under the formidable George Maniakes was sent to Italy in 1042. Maniakes and his army engulfed the land in a fury of destruction, leaving a trail of burning ruins and shattered fortresses behind them. Any who opposed this terrifying advance were tortured to death, many buried alive. However, before he could complete his campaign of annihilation, the general was recalled to Constantinople due to palace intrigue. Gripped by murderous rage at a serious of outrages against his wife and property by one of his rivals, he was proclaimed emperor by his troops, and led them across the Adriatic to victory against a loyalist army. However, a mortal wound led to his death shortly afterwards. With the opposition absent in the Balkans, the Normans were able to complete the expulsion of the Byzantines from Italy by 1071.
The Seljuk Turks conducted a series of damaging raids into Armenia and eastern Anatolia, which was the main recruiting ground for Byzantine armies. With the imperial armies weakened by years of insufficient funding and civil warfare, Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes realized that a time of re-structuring and re-equipment was necessary. Consequently, he attempted to lead a defensive campaign in the east until his forces had recovered enough to defeat the Seljuks. However, due to treachery from his opponents who deserted him on the field of battle, he suffered a surprise defeat at the hands of Alp Arslan (sultan of the Seljuk Turks) at Manzikert in 1071. Romanus was captured, and although the Sultan's peace terms were not excessive, the battle was catastrophic for the Byzantine Empire in another way.
Alexios I Komnenos was a brave and determined emperor, and he deserves much of the credit for making possible the restoration of the empire that occurred under his successors. Alexios' son John II Komnenos succeeded him in 1118, and was to rule until 1143. On account of his mild and just reign he has been called the Byzantine Marcus Aurelius. John was unusual for his lack of cruelty — despite his long reign, in an age where violence was the norm, he never had anyone killed or blinded. His subjects, who gave him the name ‘John the Good’, loved him. He was also an energetic campaigner, spending much of his life in army camps and personally supervising sieges.
John's chosen heir, his son Manuel I Komnenos, was a worthy successor who had an optimistic outlook and saw possibilities everywhere. Eager to restore his empire to its past glories as the superpower of the Mediterranean world, Manuel pursued an energetic and ambitious foreign policy. In the process he made alliances with the Pope and the resurgent west, invaded Italy, successfully handled the passage of the dangerous Second Crusade through his empire, and established a Byzantine protectorate over the Crusader kingdoms of Outremer. Facing the Islamic jihad in the Holy Land, he made common cause with the Kingdom of Jerusalem and participated in a combined invasion of Fatimid Egypt. Manuel campaigned aggressively against his neighbours both in the west and in the east, defeating the Hungarians at the Battle of Sirmium in 1167 and placing the kingdoms of Hungary and Outremer under Byzantine hegemony.
At the beginning of the Komnenian period in 1081, the Byzantine Empire had been reduced to the smallest territorial extent in its history. Surrounded by enemies, and financially ruined by a long period of civil war, the empire's prospects had looked grim. Yet, through a combination of skill, determination and years of campaigning, Alexios, John and Manuel Komnenos managed to restore the power of the Byzantine Empire by constructing a new army from the ground up. The new force is known as the Komnenian army. It was both professional and disciplined.
Alexios I Komnenos or Alexius I Comnenus (1048–August 15, 1118), Byzantine emperor (1081–1118), was the third son of John Komnenos, the nephew of Isaac I Komnenos (emperor 1057–1059). Alexios is also the first emperor of the Komnenian restoration of the Byzantine Empire, and the founder of the Komnenian army.
Byzantine Empire's Decline and Fall
Of all the turbulent events that occurred during its long life, the Fourth Crusade had the most devastating effect on the empire. Although the stated intent of the crusade was to conquer Egypt, the leaders of the Crusade ran in to trouble when they found that considerably fewer men had responded to the call than had been expected. As a result, they could not afford to pay the Venetians for all the ships they had hired. After some time spent arguing over what to do next, the Venetians came up with a new proposal, and under their influence the Crusaders sailed to Constantinople, sacking the town of Zara (which was an enemy of Venice) on the way. In 1204, through treachery the Crusaders were able to gain entry to the city, and soon their troops poured into the city of Constantine, a city that had withstood every siege for nearly a thousand years. The Crusaders ransacked the wealth of a millennium, stretching back to the days of the Roman Empire. Buildings were burned down, and the four bronze horses which famously stand in Saint Mark's Square in Venice today, were looted from the Hippodrome at Constantinople. As a result, a short-lived feudal kingdom was founded (the Latin Empire), and Byzantine power was permanently weakened. After an initial rise of the power of Bulgaria in the first half of the 13th century, the Serbian Kingdom under the Nemanjic dynasty grew stronger and, with the weakening of Byzantium, formed a Serbian Empire in 1346.
After the sacking of Constantinople in 1204, three successor states were established. These states included the Empire of Nicaea, the Empire of Trebizond, and the Despotate of Epirus. The first state, controlled by the Palaiologan dynasty, managed to reclaim Constantinople in 1261 and defeated Epirus. This led to the reviving of the Eastern Roman Empire, but the empire's attention was more focused on Europe than on the Asian provinces that were the primary concern. For a while, the empire survived simply because the Muslims were too divided to attack. However, the unifying influence of Osman I (1258–1326) allowed the newly founded Ottoman Empire (1299-1923) to overrun many Byzantine territories leaving only a handful of port cities.
The Eastern Roman Empire appealed to the west for help, but they would only consider sending aid in return for reuniting the churches. Church unity was considered, and occasionally accomplished by law, but the Orthodox citizens would not accept Roman Catholicism. Some western mercenaries arrived to help, but many preferred to let the empire die, and did nothing as the Ottomans picked apart the remaining territories.
Due to my lack of knowledge about the Byzantine Empire, many facts were used from this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire
French Empire (11 BC-1960 AD)
The Franks originally lived in Pannonia, but later settled on the banks of the Rhine. In 355–358, the later Emperor Julian once again found the shipping lanes on the Rhine under control of the Franks, Rome gave a considerable part of Gallia Belgica to the Franks. The Franks gradually conquered most of Roman Gaul north of the Loire valley and east of Visigothic Aquitaine.
Charles Martel, duke of the Franks expanded his rule over Austrasia, Neustria, and Burgundy. Charles Martel won the Battle of Tours in 732. It is known as an action saving Europe from Muslim invasion. Martel's heir, Charlemagne later took the Frankish throne after Pepin the Short's death.
The pope often asked Charlemagne's help when being threatened by enemies. Charlemagne defeated the Lombards and became not only the master of Italy, but king of the Lombards as well. Charlemagne defeated the Saxons and won a battle against the Muslims but lost many of his famous soldiers after they disobbeyed him and went into battle.
Charlemagne
On December 25, 800 AD Pope Leo III named Charlemagne Emperor of the Romans. Charlemagne made the strongest empire in Europe at the time. Charlemagne lived long and established new schools. The Frankish Empire was the start of the later French Empire.
In the 1400s France started to gain power. After the Black Death France lost one third of its population, but France was already overpopulated, so France remained strong. The Hundred Years' War didn't help their recovery though. However, after being on the underhand against England, Joan of Arc sparked the soldiers and they finally won the long war.
The House of Bourbon strengthened France even more. King Louis XIII and his chief minister Cardinal Richelieu started an absolute monarchy, where the king has complete control. Louis XIV continued Richelieu and his father's reforms and established himself as an absolute ruler.
Louis XIV
The Thirty Years' War was fought between 1618 and 1648, principally on the territory of today's Germany, also involving most of the major European continental powers. The Thirty Years' War was a battle of religion conflict between the Protestants and the Catholics. The Peace of Westphalia ended the Thirty Years' War in 1648. When the Thirty Years' War ended the Frone began.
The Fronde (1648–1653) was a civil war in France, followed by the Franco-Spanish War (1653–1659). When Louis XIV became an absolute ruler he got rid of the nobles power. War continued with Spain but England provided military help, Oliver Cromwell was the ruler then. Louis XIV appointed Jean-Baptiste Colbert as finance minister. Colbert improved France's economy and brought in money for the king.
Louis XIV had the Chateau of Versailles outside Paris, originally a hunting lodge built by his father, converted into a spectacular royal palace. Louis XIV embarked on many campaigns but lost many money from fighting so many wars. Later France fell into debt and had to raise taxes. Louis XIV may have strengthened France, but lost much money from building hunting lodges that looked like palaces and fighting costly wars.
After the War of Spanish Succession, Louis XIV was allowed by the Treaty of Utrecht to place his grandson Philip V on the Spanish throne. However, Philip could not rule both France and Spain.
The First French Empire – 1811
Napoleon Bonaparte
The French Revolution ended the absolute rule of the monarchy and replaced it with republicism. Napoleon Bonaparte was a French general in the early 1800s. Over the course of little more than a decade, the French armies under his command fought virtually every European power at the same time and acquired control of most of the western and central mainland of Europe by either conquest or alliance. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor on December 2, 1804 at Notre Dame de Paris.
After 1812 he lost a chaotic invasion against Russia and was defeated at the Battle of Leipzig in October 1813, which led to his abdication several months later and his exile to the island of Elba. He staged a comeback known as the Hundred Days, but was again defeated decisively at the Battle of Waterloo in present day Belgium on June 18, 1815, followed shortly afterwards by his surrender to the British and his exile to the island of Saint Helena, where he died six years later.
France continued to gain land by colonizing to America, Africa, and India.
British Empire (325 BC-Present)
British Empire – 1920s
England was first recorded in 325 BC but dates back much longer. In 1066 AD Harold the Saxon lost to William the Conqueror. William consolidated his control over England and made 35 castles to show his power. Richard the Lionhearted, king of England embarked on the Third Crusade. After Holy Roman Emperor Frederick Barbarossa died and French king Philip Augustus left with his army, Richard fought on. He was unable to capture Jerusalem but settled for a truce that gave him control of a few coastal towns and the right for Europeans to travel to Jerusalem.
King Henry VIII never ha a male son. His daughters were Mary Queen of Scots and Elizabeth I of England. Queen Elizabeth I reined during a period marked by increases in English power and influence worldwide and great religious turmoil within England. Elizabeth's reign is referred to as the Elizabethan era or the Golden Age of Elizabeth.
England remained one of the strongest nations of Europe. In the 17th century Charles I fought a war with Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentary forces. Charles I was defeated and beheaded. Cromwell established England as a commonwealth and himself as "Lord Protector". However after his death England was tired of being a commonwealth and re-established the monarchy.
On May 1, 1707, the Acts of Union resulted in a political union with the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England to create the Kingdom of Great Britain.
From about 1692 to World War II, the Royal Navy was the largest and most powerful navy in the world. The navy helped establish the United Kingdom as the dominant power of the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
From the 1600s to the early 1900s Great Britain began to colonize. Colonies were established in North, Central and South America and in the Caribbean.
German Empire (390 BC-Present)
Germany, previously known as Gaul in Ancient times, started out as tribal states fighting with eachother and other nations. They eventually banded together and contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.
In the 12th century a German crusading military order was formed under Roman Catholic religious vows called the Teutonic Knights. In 1225 the Teutonic Knights moved to Prussia, where they created an independent monastic state.
Teutonic Knights
Frederick II of Prussia, or Frederick the Great was a King of Prussia in the 1700s. He fought against Austria in the War of Austrian Succession. He gained Silesia for Prussia. Conflict continues against Austria but Prussia stays on top winning five battles.
Frederick the Great
From 1756-1763 The Seven Years' War breaks out against Prussia and an Austrian-French-Russian-Saxon alliance. Frederick's successes against Saxony and Austria in 1756-1757 are not enough to reach a conclusion to the war. The Prussians retreat from Bohemia. For the rest of the war, Frederick is busy trying to defend the triangle of Berlin – Silesia – Saxony. Britain allied with Prussia. In the end the Treaty of Paris and the Treaty of Hubertusburg ended the Seven Years' War. Frederick the Great made Prussia one of the most powerful nations in Europe at the time.
German Colonies
In the 19th century Germany began to colonize and gained some land in Africa and South America.
German Empire – (1871-1918)
After the fall of Napoleon, European monarchs and statesmen convened in the Vienna in 1814 for the reorganization of European affairs, the German Confederation was formed. In 1867 the German Confederation was removed and in its place the North German Confederation was established, under the leadership of Prussia. Austria was excluded from German affairs in the 19th and 20th centuries. Differences between France and Prussia over the accession to the Spanish throne of a German candidate, whom France opposed, led to the Franco-Prussian War (1870-71). In 1870 the German-Prussian army invaded France and France had to retreat. In 1871, in the Hall of Mirrors of the Palace of Versailles, the Prussian King Wilhelm I was named "Emperor of Germany".
In World War I the United States defeated Germany and the Central Powers. In World War II Hitler was defeated by the Allied Forces.
Persian Empire (844 BC-Present)
The first record of the Persians comes from an Assyrian inscription from 844 BC. The Achaemenids were the first to create a centralized state in Persia, founded by Achaemenes, chieftain of the Persians around 700 BC. Cyrus II the Great united the separate kingdoms around 559 BC. Cyrus rallied the Persians together, and in 550 BC defeated the forces of Astyage's Median Dynasty. In 539 BC, Cyrus marched into the ancient city of Babylon and defeated them. Cyrus' son, Cambyses II, conquered Egypt for the Achaemenid Empire. Then the Persian Empire reached its greatest extent under Darius I. He tried to conquer Greece but was halted at the Battle of Marathon.
Persian Empire – 490 BC
Darius's son, Xerxes I also tried to fight the Greeks, but his army was defeated at the Battle of Plataea in 479 BC. The Achaemenid Empire was the largest empire the world had yet seen. During the Achaemenid period, Zoroastrianism became the major religion. This was a major step in history for religion because Zoroastrianism has only one god.
Eight years later, Alexander defeated Darius IIi and conquered Persia. From 330 BC-150 BC the Seleucid Dynasty For a while the Persian Empire was part of Greece. However after Alexander the Great died, his Empire split up into three parts. Seleucus I Nicator tried to take control of Persia, however he was assasinated in 281 BC. Throughout Alexander's Empire Greek was the main language. The eastern provinces of Bactria and Parthia broke away from the Seleucid Kingdom in 238 BC.
The Parthian and Sassanid Empires lasted from 150 BC-650 AD. In the fifth century the White Huns conquered the Eastern regions of the Sassanid Empire. A lasting war with the Romans was the downfall of the Sassanid Empire.
The Seljuk Turks ruled from the 1000s to 1300s. In 1218 Genghis Khan sent ambassadors and merchants to the city of Otrar. Their governor had the ambassadors and merchants killed. Genghis Khan sacked the city of Otrar.
In the mid-1200s Hulagu Khan, Genghis Khan's grandson conquered the Khwarzim Empire, Baghdad, and a lot of the Middle East. In the 1400s Persia was not a unified state. For a while the Timurid emirs ruled it.
The Safavids were an Iranian dynasty from Azarbaijan that ruled from 1501 to 1736. They were the next step towards modern Iran.
Spanish Empire (1402-Present)
The Spanish Empire at its greatest extent
Spain didn't become a dominant power until the late 1400s when they drove out the Moorish king from Granada. In 1492 Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas at a time of the European voyages.
Juan Ponce de León, second cousin of Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador and explorer, was the first governor of Puerto Rico. Francisco Pizarro, another Spanish conquistador and explorer, conquered the Inca Empire called the Conquest of Peru. Hernando de Soto, took an active role in helping Francisco Pizarro in the Conquest of Peru.
However, the most important event in Spanish history in this time period of exploration was the conquest of the Aztec Empire. From 1519-1521 Hernán Cortés, a Spanish conquistador conquered the Aztec Empire for Spain.
The Golden Age of Spain was from 1521–1643. They gained access to American and Asian products. They maintained France's power, they maintained Catholic Habsburg hegemony in Germany, defending Catholicism against the Reformation. They also defended Europe against Islam, especially from the Ottoman Empire.
Charles V was crowned Holy Roman Emperor. In 1521, Francis I of France invaded Spanish territory in Italy and conflict broke out again between France and Spain. Spain emerged victorious from the battle.
The pope interfered with the conflict between France and Spain and seemed to be on France's side. Charles V sacked Rome and in 1529 the pope and Charles V signed the Peace of Barcelona.
Charles V and the Schmalkaldic League, a defensive league of Protestant princes in the Holy Roman Empire, signed the Peace of Augsburg on September 25, 1555.
The Battle of Rocroi (1643) is known as the end of Spanish dominance in Europe. Supported by the French, the Catalans, Neapolitans, and Portuguese rose up in revolt against the Spanish in the 1640s. With the Netherlands basically lost after the Battle of Lens in 1648, the Spanish made peace with the Dutch. The Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War both ended after the signing of the Peace of Westphalia.
Macedonian Empire (393 BC-146 BC) (Alexander the Great)
Alexander the Great's Empire
After the death of Philip II of Macedon, his son, Alexander the Great took the throne in 336 BC at age 20. According to Plutarch, a Greek historian, Alexander's father was Zeus. Alexander was chosen to lead the army against Persia.
Alexander had a 42,000 man army, when he finally fought Darius III he had 31,000 soldiers (5,000 cavalry, 26,000 infantry) against Persia's 211,000 man strong army (11,000 cavalry, 160,000 Persian infantry, 10,000 Immortals, 30,000 Greek mercenaries).
Alexander the Great fighting the Persians
Alexander the Great's battle with Darius III wasn't even close. While he lost nearly 500 men Darius III lost 110,000. Darius III retreated and was soon killed. Alexander the Great just conquered the strongest empire in the world at the time. Later Alexander also conquered part of India.
Unfortunately, soon after Alexander's death his empire split into three.
In 146 BC Macedonia was recognized as a Roman province
After going through all of the greatest empires to ever live the best ones were the French Empire, the Roman Empire and the Mongol Empire. If I had to choose I would probably go with the French Empire. They were so strong for such a long period of time. Charlemagne's Empire was a great starting point for that empire and Louis XIV was a great ruler.
