We have very little understanding about how most other empires functioned. For instance we know were little about the Achaemenids and what we do know comes almo

We have very little understanding about how most other empires functioned. For instance we know were little about the Achaemenids and what we do know comes almost exclusively from Greek sources. Rome is the most understood and researched ancient empire in the west which naturally makes it a primary candidate for such discussion. > Why assume that a massive empire in necessary though? I agree. Even Britain wasn’t exactly an empire in this sense during the late 18th century. And even if we go back to Rome, technological progress didn’t really stop after Rome “fell”. It might have even accelerated in some regions of Western Europe after the worst periods of the dark ages were over. By if we look at more practical fields like agriculture and metallurgy Europeans were already quite a bit more advanced than the Romans (who arguably had entered a period of stagnation several centuries before the fall of the Western Empire) ever were by ~900 AD.