Curated playlist
Former empires
- Akkadian EmpireNaram-Sin of Agade declared himself a living god. He was the first Sumerian-culture ruler to claim that.
- Carolingian EmpireOn Christmas Day in the year 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne Roman Emperor in Rome.
- Sasanian EmpireThe Sasanian Empire's king Shapur I captured a Roman emperor alive. Valerian spent the rest of his life as his prisoner.
- HittitesAround 1330 BC, the Hittite king Mursili II sent infected rams across enemy lines.
- Achaemenid EmpireIn October 539 BC, Cyrus the Great captured Babylon. His Achaemenid Empire had already toppled Media and Lydia.
- Austrian EmpireIn 1804, Francis II declared himself Emperor of Austria out of fear of Napoleon. He was already Holy Roman Emperor.
- Dzungar KhanateThe Dzungar Khanate held off China and Russia for over a century, then vanished in three years.
- HunsAttila died in 453 of a hemorrhage on his wedding night. He had been about to attack Constantinople.
- Crown of AragonThe Crown of Aragon began with a monk who never wanted to be king. Nobles pulled Ramiro II out of his monastery in 1134.
- Maurya EmpireAfter the Kalinga war in 261 BCE, Emperor Ashoka gave up conquest and embraced Buddhism.
- Kingdom of FranceThe Kingdom of France began with a treaty in 843, not a coronation. It split a dying empire into three at Verdun.
- Tang dynastyWu Zetian entered court as a lowly consort and became China's only legitimate female emperor.
- Ancient CarthageWhen Rome destroyed Carthage in 146 BC, it burned nearly every Carthaginian text.
- Qin dynastyThe Qin dynasty ruled China for only 14 years, yet its system outlasted it by over 2,000 years.
- Spanish EmpirePortugal's navy blocked Castile from Africa, which pushed it toward Columbus. The Spanish Empire grew from that setback.
- Mongol EmpireMongol Empire riders regularly covered 125 miles a day by swapping horses at relay posts.
- Austria-HungaryIn 1867, Emperor Franz Joseph signed laws creating the Dual Monarchy of Austria and Hungary. It lasted until 1918.
- German EmpireThe German Empire was proclaimed inside the Palace of Versailles. Paris was still under siege on that day in 1871.
- First Bulgarian EmpireAfter a defeat in 680, a Byzantine emperor had to pay tribute to people he called "unclean and newly emerged."
- Empire of NicaeaAfter crusaders seized Constantinople in 1204, exiles built the Empire of Nicaea. It retook the city in 1261.
- Habsburg monarchyThe Habsburg monarchy began with a single castle in present-day Switzerland. Its builder was Radbot of Klettgau.
- First French EmpireSoldiers ordered to arrest Napoleon joined him instead. He had escaped Elba with a thousand men and four cannons.
- Latin EmpireThe Latin Empire ended in 1261 when roughly 800 soldiers opened a city gate. They were only scouts.
- Byzantine EmpireThe Byzantine Empire never called itself Byzantine. Its citizens called themselves Romans, and the name came later.
- Nazi GermanyNazi Germany's leaders promised it would last a thousand years, but it lasted twelve. It ended in May 1945.
- Gallic EmpireIn 260, a Roman general had his emperor's son killed and founded the Gallic Empire. It held for fourteen years.
- Soviet empireThe Soviet empire was never called an empire by the people who ran it. Its leaders called the system anti-imperialist.
- ManchukuoChina's last emperor once ruled Manchukuo, a state where he held no real power. Japan ran it from 1932 to 1945.
- Holy Roman EmpireIn 800, Pope Leo III crowned Charlemagne and named him Roman Emperor. The Holy Roman Empire lasted until 1806.
- Ancient RomeIn 88 BC, a Roman consul marched his own legions into Rome. Sulla did it to crush the supporters of Marius.
- British EmpireThe British Empire began with trading posts and failed colonies. By 1920 it covered 35.5 million square kilometres.
- Italian EmpireThe Italian Empire began when a shipping company bought a coaling station. The company bought Assab Bay in 1869.
- Roman EmpireThe Roman Empire began as a republic run by elected officials. It still lasted, in one form or another, until 1453.
- Ottoman EmpireThe last Ottoman sultan, Mehmed VI, was a direct male-line descendant of the empire's first sultan, Osman I.
- German colonial empireOtto von Bismarck said "I am no man for colonies," then built a huge empire.