I think its a toss between the Mayans and the Minoans. From my history channel addiction, both civilizations were far advanced for their time. They had gadgets and tools that baffle scientists to this day. The Minoans had indoor plumbing, mind you and the Mayans had built their temple complex just like the Pleiades's constellation.
hmmmm... but I guess the Romans really contributed the most to human history and knowledge that we can appreciate today. Aqueducts, coliseums, architecture, Even the word "fornicate" was derived from an arch in the public coliseums and everybody still knows what the hell a roman bath is.
We also could not discount the persians...after all, during the middle ages, didn't they carry the torch of knowledge..and don't we still use the hindu-arabic numeral system ?
What about the Chinese ? acupuncture is still being practiced until today, 3,000 years later. The ancient alphabet that would require you to know at least 20,000 characters to be able to read the newspaper...or the fighting skills in human combat that has the world over in a frenzy.
Its hard to pick...Academically speaking, I gotta hand it to the Chinese, they're still alive and kicking...and is a rising super power in the world. (Needless to say Egypt, Rome or Peru is not)
in my heart, I would pick the Minoans...darn, if they had indoor plumbing 3,000 years ago, imagine, had they survived the Santorini eruption, they might've been designing hot dog carts in the moon by now.
I will give credence to the ancient mesoamerican civilizations of the Tlaxlaca (Azteca), as well as to the Inca for implementing craniotomy procedures during the age of pre-anesthesia. Their mastery of the constellations is definitely commendable. As well as implementing a roadway system for forwarding messages throughout their empire (quite similar to the Persian Pony Express).
But in my personal opinion, the greatest and most pivotal empire would have to be the Roman Empire.
Rome civilized the barbarium of europe, and brought order, a sense of unity, a common language (latin, from which would sprout the romance languages: italian, spanish, portuguese, french, romanian), proliferated the concept of democratic right, the concept of the republic, medicinal practices, military regimen, order, and the concept of the province within the imperial political system, the concept of the SPQR (senatus populae quae romanum): in that the power of government emanates from the people, and that the emperor is the sole living body from which all comes forth.
The Roman Empire continues to live today. The concepts that Rome invented lives on~ the republican form of government, the senates of governments, religion (they proliferated christianity as the state religion starting in the reign of Constantine the Great) etc.
Given, i do respect the Chinese. Theirs is the oldest society, and a uniform race. The Han Ethnic Group.
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