Which empire was larger Rome or Alexanders?

[TallOne]

According to wiki, Rome is slightly larger at 5.7 million sq kilometers were Alexanders empire is 5.4.

This is hard to believe because Persia is 7.5. Alexanders looks exactly like Persia, if not larger as it streachs further into India than Persia. I doubt its smaller than Rome. If you look at maps, Alexanders empire dominates Rome, yet wikipedia says Rome is larger. Which one is larger, Rome or the Macedonian empire?

[olvios]

It doesn't actually matter.Rome lasted millennia in one form or another whilst Greek and Indo-Greek and in general other Hellenistic kingdoms were spit into many parts and were not one single entity.

[zefs]

Forget about size, which civilization left a bigger imprint in human history?

[zefs]

I vote the Greeks.

[pankration]

Give the Romans credit too. However, they were in power in an uninterupted line for hundreds of years. Alexander's empire only lasted a few generations but the footprint was timeless.

[TallOne]

Well techniquly, it lasted for about 300 years if you count the diadochi?

Its such a shame this facinating history of the Selucids, Ptolemaic, Greek-Indo and Bactarian kingdoms are praticly shrouded away through the anticipation of Rome. Just because Rome conquerd England, the English seem to talk about Rome all the time. Rome IMO is very boring. Eastern history is facinating. Its such a shame children are taught nothing about the Hellenistic kingdoms.

[zefs]

Thats because of the hatred the English have had as a people and culture towards the Greeks. Just read Gibbon The history of the decline and fall oif the Roman Empire. See how he describes the Byzantine Greeks.

[TallOne]

Its truely horrible children just end up taking the piss out of the Greeks because all the teachers teach about is the ancient Greek myths. While they talk about Romes stunning advancements. Not stating that about 98% of Romes knowledge and inventions started from what the Greeks already started. Kids these days have no idea what Persia is.

Obviously the only reason why kids are not taught about Persia is because it is now Iran, I doubt the British and American government are going to talk about history from a corrupt Muslim country, regardless of the fact that most countries which are Islamic, are home to the earliest and most sophisticated civilisations in history.

Kids are taught that Ceaser was one of the greatest, if not the greatest millitary master minds in history. Forgetting Alexander The Great. According to a page I read, Ceaser is the 12th greatest commander, while Alexander is first. Obviously they don't tell kids that it took Ceaser 11 years to conquer Gaul and the Romans numerious attempts to conquer Persia (when it was much weaker!), when it took Alexander the Great 11 years to conquer much the world and the Persian empire at its height!

The worst thing is when the English history teachers show many "Roman buildings" to the children, showing Doric temples and other buildings, when its damn obvious the Greeks started it. Its very upsetting.

[Paulos Melas]

Both empires expanded substantially and included great parts of the world.
Nonetheless there is a substantial difference.
The greeks fail to form a single government. Straight after the conquest of the east the entire alexandrian empire was split between the generals of alexander.
It was replaced by numerous hellenistic kingdoms, which developed syncretic elements of indigenous and greek customs.
Rome from the other hand was a true empire with an extended system of laws and a rigid form of government at the beginning republican and later imperial.
A system that created one culture (the graeco-roman culture) one legal code (roman law) and eventually one religion (Christianity).
Rome finally was so much hellenised that was trasformed to the medieval greek byzantine empire.
As such both greece and rome constitute the classical antiquity.
They both constitute an unseparable entity that created byzantium and consequently modern greece (and neohellenism) but also created the holy roman empire and as such the western europe and eventually enlightment and rennaissance.
There is no way to distinguish the Romans from the Greeks. (Another one of our names is romioi and another description of hellenism is Romiosini).
So the question is meaningless as nothing couldn t have achieved without the existence of the greek genious and equally of the roman law.

[Paulos Melas]

And also bear in mind that the most civilised countries on the world are the countries that formed part of the carolingian empire and thus received the benefit of the carolingian rennaissance. Not the balkans neither the east