Top 10 Greatest Civilizations of All Time

If Rome had not fallen, we might be thousands of years more advanced. We probably would have had the industrial revolution around 500 AD.
Rome is truly one of the greatest examples of a great civilization. Their technological advancements and adeptness in conquering made them one of the most superior empires Europe, probably the world, has ever seen. It is truly a shame that Rome fell, one of the greatest tragedies in all of humanity. If Rome had not adopted Christianity and had somehow been able to conquer the barbarians, we could have skipped the medieval and renaissance eras. We wouldn't have had the Black Plague in Europe because Rome was already so advanced in medicine. Who knows how clean they would have been in future years?
Though it is difficult not to compare Rome easily to Greece, with Greece's own artistic and scientific advancement as well as the great Macedonian empire, they were not nearly as influential or contiguous as the amazing and marveling Romans. Easily under my list of favorite and personal greatest civilizations of all time.

The ancient Egyptian civilization's power didn't depend on its military strength as most other ancient civilizations did.
Great advances in engineering, medicine, and astronomy were achieved by the ancient Egyptians. The enormous Giza pyramids, standing in place for 5,000 years, prove the superior ability of ancient Egyptians in engineering and astronomy.
In addition, the ancient Egyptians showed unparalleled mercy toward their enemies compared with other civilizations in the ancient era.

Greek philosophy, politics, architecture, mathematics, physics, and art provided the foundation of success for ALL western civilization. The Roman Empire adopted many aspects of Greek culture and continually sought Greek scholars as teachers and advisors.
The Italian Renaissance and Enlightenment that brought Europe out of the dark ages started with a revival of Greek studies and ideas. The United States of America looked to the Greeks and Romans for their foundational values and government. Greek ideas bred success, power, and art.

It's not like I'm saying America is perfect or sits on the pedestal of highest success in all categories. It has and had its faults. The thing is, we don't lead in any category other than defense spending, percent of incarcerated citizens, and people who believe in Christ. Other countries have followed our model and have the liberties and rights we proclaimed in our founding. We are not the freest nation on earth anymore. We like to regulate everything. So, people can reasonably say we aren't the best.
But we are the States. There is pride in being the 900-pound gorilla because we do have a force of a military. Since our inception until the '70s, we did nothing but advance in all fields. We are a very young nation, but we represent the democratic republic world. Other nations on here have failed, and America isn't failing yet. We just aren't the undisputed best in the world right now. I vote America for the future could be bright with the right footing, and the past is great.

No single civilization has conquered and dominated as much of the world as the British Empire did during the Colonial Era. Their geopolitical influence and power were felt on every continent except South America. Not only were they the most powerful empire, but they arguably advanced humanity more than any other civilization.
They significantly contributed to technology, biology, physics, chemistry, political philosophy, economics, trade, industry, transportation, education, literature, architecture, and countless other invaluable contributions to humanity. The Industrial Revolution started in Great Britain. Their ideas, inventions, and Christian religion spread across the world, and today we see British influence in every first world country as a direct result of the sustained excellence of the British Empire.

It is true that Rome, Egypt, Greece, and all the other empires mentioned contributed greatly to our world as a whole. However, when it comes down to it, China was one of the greatest civilizations of all time.
If it were not for China, many of the inventions that made these other civilizations so great would never have existed. For example, without China, our world would not have gunpowder, paper (far superior to simple papyrus), printing, compasses, silk cultivation, and literally thousands of inventions that changed our world dramatically.
In addition, China is one of the oldest known civilizations and outlasted many of the civilizations listed above. When these characteristics are combined, you get an empire that is hard to beat. Just pointing out the facts.
One of the greatest and most underrated civilizations of all time is the Islamic Golden Age. They made significant contributions in science, mathematics, astronomy, and much more. Without people like Ibn al-Haytham or Abu Nasr Al-Farabi, and many others, the world would not be as advanced as it is today.
A lot of people try to undermine their achievements by pointing out that they started off by translating and learning from older civilizations, levying false accusations of "plagiarism". However, learning from past knowledge is a universal process. Even Sir Isaac Newton said, "If I have seen further than others, it's by standing on the shoulders of giants." The Islamic Golden Age made their own contributions as well, which is often overlooked by detractors.
In any case, haters are going to hate. I'm proud of what my ancestors have achieved.
All the other civilizations named had the benefit of building off of other civilizations. Geography, proximity, and conquest or trade gave them the benefit of using the best ideas of others. They were all aided by other cultures, particularly the Romans, British, Americans, Greeks, and Chinese.
The Meso-Americans, however, were relatively isolated. All of their great achievements are theirs alone. They didn't have the benefit of a vast number of cultures clustered in a relatively small area to draw from. That is absolutely admirable.

What makes ancient Persia (Achaemenid) unique in the list of all civilizations?
It was the largest multicultural civilization in ancient times that was free of slavery. Men and women were treated with equal rights and values. No other civilization to this day, in that vast range, has been able to achieve this. Neither Rome, nor Greece, nor Egypt, and not even current Europe or America, have been able to build their empires from the ground up without slavery, without free choice of religion, and without equality between men and women. Fortunately, we no longer have slavery. However, it took nearly 2,400 years, as we progressed into the modern era, until this form of slavery was banned in almost the entire world (since the 19th century). Nevertheless, modern civilization is built on unequal rights and slavery.
It is curious to think that as we were progressing into the modern era, we were also getting closer to the human rights of the ancient empire of the Achaemenids.
As Cyrus the Great declared in the first charter of human rights (circa 500 BC):
"Now that I put the crown of the kingdom of Persia on, I announce that I will respect the traditions, customs, and religions of the nations of my empire and never let any of my governors and subordinates look down on or insult them. I will impose my monarchy on no nation. Each is free to accept it, and if any one of them rejects it, I never resolve on war to reign. I will never let anyone oppress any others, and if it occurs, I will take back his or her rights and penalize the oppressor. I will never let anyone take possession of movable and landed properties of others by force or without compensation. Until I am alive, I prevent unpaid, forced labor. Today, I announce that everyone is free to choose a religion. People are free to live in all regions and take up a job, provided that they never violate others' rights. No one can be penalized for his or her relatives' faults. I prevent slavery,... more

The Mongols might have been perceived as barbaric, but their power during their reign and their influence even today is astounding. They were essential in the development and improvement of trade, for example, reopening the Silk Road. They also encouraged migration and moved people around their empire to help advance it. It was the first real experiment of interconnection and a 'global village,' which allowed modern globalization to take place.
They also helped to spread ideas, culture, and inventions, such as Chinese gunpowder to Europe. In fact, they are so influential that their effects can even be seen now. One in 200 people are descended from Genghis Khan. You don't see that anywhere else.
The Newcomers

This should really have gotten more attention.


The Ottoman Empire was the only empire to show that Islam can be unified with Western values. Furthermore, it had control over the Middle East and Eastern Europe, despite being in constant proxy wars with the greatest nations and empires, such as the British Empire, the Italian Empire, France, and the Russian Empire.
I would call the Ottoman Empire the only dynasty that could bring lasting order and peace to Europe and the Middle East. What a shame the Ottoman Empire ended in such a manner when it had great potential and was good at diplomatic relations.
The Cholas represented an outward-looking power, rather than an insular, inward-looking one like the regimes before its advent. It spread its writ and influence deep into South East Asia and built magnificent temples. Well deserving of being among the greatest civilizations the world has seen.
I think there is a 1,000-year-old temple in Tamil Nadu. I can't believe that it is still completely intact, yet they don't even have to maintain it too much. Meanwhile, many Greek structures have already been practically destroyed.

Constantinople was the most beautiful city in the world until it fell to the barbarians of the east, the savage people that stole its history. I will never forget May 29, 1453. The city will be Greek again.
It's ridiculous to rank the USA well above the Byzantine Empire, which was a Greek Empire. It's also highly inaccurate. The notion that Americans think they have the best civilization in the world is misguided.
The East Roman Empire survived for one thousand years. They left an immense heritage behind. Their architecture and science developments were the cutting edge of those times. Today, Anatolia and especially Istanbul are full of their magical memorials. "Pax Romana" represents their development and peace.

No, the Sultanate Empire was better than the Mughal Empire. At least they knew how to rule. The business of that time was the best. The Mughals didn't rule well. They were reckless about their kingdoms. Yes, they built the Taj Mahal. But I also heard that Shah Jahan cut off the workers' hands. However, that's not the only issue.
During their time, art was so highly praised that the average economy was downgraded. It caused war between Hindus and Muslims. And overall, it cost them their kingdom.
By the way, they couldn't rule until the end of the 18th century. By that time, they were already powerless. They just held the title. They were probably the people who were lying in bed and making self-portraits.
Assyrians may have been despotic and violent, but they had a beautiful culture. As already stated here, they had a most prestigious library and university. They also had beautiful art. When the Babylonians and Persians came along, they made deals and remained semi-autonomous.
The Empire that built the first library and university also thought of the Pythagorean Theorem, truly the empire of knowledge.
Haha, beautiful. They were awesome, not because they were majestic and calm, but because they were majestic in killing people. One hundred plus respect.

Most underrated and advanced civilization. They invented the modern alphabet that we are using now in Byblos, Lebanon. First and best traders ever.
First to arrive on the American continent. Best maritime ever. The purple dye of Tyre became more expensive than gold. The continent of Europe got its name from the Phoenician Queen Europa.
They invented a practical alphabet, which was the mother to the vast majority of modern alphabets around the world. The Phoenicians also invented the boat and were the first to navigate around Africa.
When the Aztecs arrived on Tenochtitlan Island, it was unsustainable as a settlement. They built a series of dams that we still do not fully understand, which allowed them to control the lake's water level. This enabled them to construct an extensive irrigation system, reclaiming the no longer flooded marshland to build farms. They also invented a water filtration system that provided perfectly safe nourishment.
In addition, they designed a complex network of canals across the island, floating agricultural colonies, a fertilization system, and magnificent public architecture. However, after the Spanish destroyed this system, it was not until the 1920s that scientists solved the city's flooding problem, and they achieved this only by draining the entire lake.


The greatest civilization and culture, and not because I am African.

It was powerful and extremely large. The dynasty was fairly stable, with a flourishing economy. It wasn't the high point of Chinese civilization, but it was still extremely prosperous and powerful.
These guys were better than Scotland. They were larger, but they died out quickly.
The Celts were arguably the mightiest warriors in history. They invented a language still spoken today, a minor religion still practiced today, and had mythological figures still recognized today. Though not as popular as the Greeks or Romans, they ruled Gaelic Europe, making them one of the strongest and most prosperous civilizations to date!
One of the greatest Tamil empires. The classical Tamil, the oldest and still continuously spoken language in the world, developed under the Pandyan patrons. Long Live Divine Classical Tamil!