Who had the Greatest Empire?
I did a similar poll a long time ago here, and the Romans and British came out on top, with everyone else I included far behind. The runners-up were the Spanish, Mongols, and Arabs.
When thinking of this, I personally don't just think about the amount of territory controlled.
I think of which empires directly had a long, deep, and widespread impact on the world.
* "Long"... a lasting impact.
* "Deep"... it wasn't a shallow conquest or quasi-colonization, it truly affected the world, and still does.
* "Widespread"... their influence covers a wide area of territory and/or large number of people.
* "Directly"... their influence isn't just some indirect butterfly effect, stuff happened specifically because of them.
The Mongol and Macedonian Empires.
Poll
