What is the greatest ancient civilization?

Which one is the most important to the development of history?

Which one was the best in terms of culture, military power and political dominance?

Which one would you have liked to live in and why? What event would you experience? What would you do and see?

What is the defining event of ancient history?

Who are the greatest people of the ancient period and why?

If you love Ancient history please check out this great forum:

http://ancient-empires.net/forum/index.php?act=idx - http://ancient-empires.net/forum/index.php?act=idx

I agree with Hueyi Tlahtoani on this one. All votes in this poll will be rather "emotional". Not necessarily for each voter's region, maybe by passion or interest aswell.

I, for one, cast my vote for Ancient Egypt. I admire all the other ancient civs, but egyptian history really touches my heart, you know...

Rome by far is the greatest empire that ever existed because it was a military power and there is no way that the ancient mesoamerians or Egypt could compeat with Romes military power even though Rome had problems of its own. The legions of Rome may have lost battles of its own but only because of bad luck and trechery the first century A.D.

he he!

Iranians have voted to Persian empire!

Greeks to Greece!

Italians to Roman empire!

And Assyrians to Mesopotamian!

     i vote others. The khmer empire by far is the greatest empire in southeast asia and possibly in the world in my opinion. The khmer are master stone builders, and it shows for angkor wat and the many other temples built. It's a fine example of what human can accomplish, and take into consideration that this was nearly eight centuries ago. There were no heavy machinery, although ancient archictecture didn't use it either. Moreover, Angkor Wat is geometricly constructed, as well as Bayon within Angkor Thom ( surrounding wall ), the capital when Jayavarman Vll reign. At that time, Angkors golden year, the empire streched as far as Lao, Vietnam, and Thailand. Phimai, Phnom Rung, Prasat Muang Tam can be found in Thailand and Wat phu can be found in Lao.

                              Satellite image of Angkor

(center left ) the smaller square with the black outline is angkor wat. The black outline is it's surrounding moat. Angkor Wat is in the center. The square above Angkor Wat is Angkor Thom which is a wall surrounding of the capital. The brown dot in the center is Bayon.

me too

Persians created the first system of satrapies (provinces) and postal systems.  They created a real administration in an empire, an actual efficient form of government, it was light years ahead of anything the world had yet seen, especially since they were the first "real" empire.  The amazing thing is that all of this was accomplished in such a large empire, spanning across most of the known world while housing inhabitants of so many different ethnicities and cultures.  The world had never witnessed such a large empire before this one.  Messages would be delivered in a matter of 1 to 2 days using the royal highways.  I even read somewhere that the King would impose a taxing system based on percentage of income of land.  The conquered lands were deemed to belong to the King himself, and therefore the inhabitants of that land would have to pay a fixed percentage of the income from the land to the King.  This would make it beneficial for the King to help improve the land, which in turn benefits himself, as well as the inhabitant.

Don't forget the fact that power was vested in the royal bloodline for appoximately 300 years.  Many later empires were unable to maintain rule for so many generations.  The achaemenid empire fascinates me...I could keep going but I wont.

Ancient Greek Gave rome much of its ideas, so my vote would be Greco-Roman.

Or British.

Rome because:

It took us 1800 years to rediscover or remake most what the west has lost.

Some thinks like medical sciences, tools, most architecture, Coliseum, SELF OPENING DOORS, some machinery and act took 2000 years to rediscover or remake….

“The Romans had access to goods from around the world, a mail system that was faster than anything before the 20th Century, very well maintained roads, unrivaled security, central heating, police and fire departments, large amounts of public entertainment, and more.”

"I voted for the Greeks. Every high culture could come up with writing systems, administration , architecture or huge military, but none of those left as big as an impression on the modern world than the ideas developed in ancient greece, in terms of philosophy, democracy etc."

True, my will be the Roman and Greeks.

Egyptians all the way

it did survive for thousands of years they had to have done somthing right

OF COURSE