I was inspired by all the previous whiteboard takeovers to create my own, with a historical twist. This is my version of the list. Inkhaven’s edited version, and my comments, will be tomorrow.

The best (not most powerful or morally good) empires of each century 500 BC – present (So far). Plz do not erase until Nov 26. 1 Entry per empire. You can move them, though.

400’s BCE Achaemenid (Persia)

The Achaemenid empire in Persia was founded by Cyrus the Great. By the 400s BCE, under Darius, it stretched from Bulgaria to Egypt to Afghanistan. This century is also when they adopted Zoroastrianism.

300’s Macedon

Alexander the Great’s short lived but influential empire. Expanded the Hellenistic world & inspired future conquerors for millennia.

200’s Carthage

Preeminent naval power in the Mediterranean. The most successful Phoenician state. Rome’s one true rival. It’s Punic culture would remain influential long after its conquest.

100’s Seleucid

The greatest of the post-Alexander Hellenistic kingdoms begins the 100s BCE resurgent under Antiochus III, defeats their Ptolemaic rivals in Egypt. Alas, soon Rome would threaten their very existence.

100-1 BCE Han (China)

Picking up the pieces of Qin Shi Huang’s short lived empire, the Han are first well attested, long-lasting dynasty to rule a united China. The Chinese still call themselves “Han” to this day.

1-100 CE Parthia

Persia is again in the spotlight, under a new King of Kings. Central power of the silk road, trading with Rome to the West and the Han to the East.

100’s Rome

How often do you think about the Roman Empire? Shaped Europe & Mediterranean like none before or since. Culture, language, laws, literature. At its height under Trajan. All roads still lead to Rome.

200’s Teotihuacan

With the Old World’s three greatest powers claimed, we turn to the greatest classical city of the Western Hemisphere. Just completing the grand Pyramids of the Sun & Moon, as the later Aztecs would call them.

300’s Sassanian Empire

Persia time again, or perhaps “Iran” time, as the Sassanids introduced that name. Powerful, long lasting, golden age of culture.

400’s Gupta Empire

It’s hard to build big Empires in India. It’s also hard in the 400s (see Rome & Jin China both falling). The Gupta did both, and probably invented Chess to boot.

500’s Eastern Roman/Byzantine empire

Rome survives in the East for 1000 years after it falls in the West. In this era, Justinian builds the Byzantine Empire to its historical peak.

600’s Tang (China)

A Chinese Golden Age of culture & power, reaching past the Eastern Chinese heartland to Vietnam & Central Asia.

700’s Umayyad Caliphate

The Muslim conquests reshaped the map. Picking up where the Rashiduns (Muhammad’s successors) left off, the Umayyad lands spanned from Spain to Pakistan.

800’s Frankish Empire

Charlemagne. Set the foundation for France & the HRE/Germany, whose often-hostile relationship defined Western Europe to the present day.

900’s Cordoba

The cultural capital of the Muslim world & Western Europe. Al-Andalus is famous for its science, art, and architecture.

1000’s Song

China reunites under the Song. Introduced gunpowder to warfare, & imported rice that can grow two crops a year. Unmatched economic powerhouse.

1100’s Khmer

Southeast Asia’s grand jungle empire, responsible for Angkor Wat. Enabled by an impressive network of canals to capture & store monsoon rains.

1200’s Mongols

Nomadic herders rarely make history. Except, of course, the Mongols. No way we’d miss the largest contiguous land empire in history.

1300’s Ming

Return of Han Imperial rule in China, setting itself up for greatness under the Hongwu Emperor. Restored China’s place as the Middle Kingdom.

1400’s Ottomans

Why did Constantinople get the works? That’s nobody’s business but the Turks. In its expansionary phase under Mehmed the Conqueror.

1500’s Spanish

The first empire on which the Sun never set. From its heartland in Europe to the Philippines to its vast lands in America, Spanish language and culture remains influential.

1600’s Mughals

Remember how it’s hard to start an empire in India? It’s even harder to conquer India from the outside and establish a lasting state. One of the great “gunpowder empires” with Ottomans and Safavid Persia. Think Taj Mahal.

1700’s French

The 1700s saw France’s 1st colonial empire under the Bourbon monarchs give way to the French Revolution & the birth of the modern nation state.

1800’s British

Rule, Britannia! World’s largest empire in absolute terms. 1st industrial nation. At its height under Queen Victoria.

1900’s USA

The American empire for the American century. The 1900’s saw the USA go from raising the Great White fleet, to triumph in the World Wars, to Cold War faction leader, to single world superpower.

2000’s PRC

After seeing the greatest economic rise in human history, the Chinese manufacturing giant is starting to see cracks in its system of authoritarian capitalism. Time will tell if these are just growing pains or signs of a crumbling foundation.

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Here’s an interactive chart (built using Claude) showing the locations of each of these empires, broken down by era:

Coming Soon: The best empires, according to Inkhaven