I'm reading "Sapiens" right now and the author makes a similar point about empires (Roman, Chinese, British, etc.). Yes empires subjugated and killed lots of p

I'm reading "Sapiens" right now and the author makes a similar point about empires (Roman, Chinese, British, etc.). Yes empires subjugated and killed lots of people, but they also brought them cultural innovation like money, rule of law, trade, standardization, etc. And the centers of the empires were wealthy enough to developer what we call culture -- architecture, art, music, etc.