When discussing the ancient world and how it impacts us today, there’s perpetually a massive tunic-clad and public-bathing elephant in the room: the Roman Empire.
According to a recent social media trend, most men ruminate on this behemoth empire on a daily basis. However, the Roman civilization was much more than just its most popular phase, the Imperial Period (31 B.C.-476 A.D.). Rome was a civilization that lasted for over a thousand years, and a majority of that time saw incredible advancements and continuations of political and scientific thought.
Too bad the Roman Empire is what most people solely remember because now, it has become sorely overrated.
Through the dusty and Indiana Jones-traversed annals of ancient history, there are a great number of incredible civilizations that can now share the spotlight with their later SPQR peers.
Here, yours truly will share the only fair and balanced evaluation of thousands and thousands of years worth of history — 10 ancient civilizations ranked by how much this writer thinks about them on a daily basis.
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10. The Mesapotamians
No one alive today, if asked where they would travel with a time machine, would decide to hang out with these folks.
Sure, they might’ve invented civilization as a whole, but that does not mean they’ve entered the current zeitgeist by any means. There’s a reason we saw Brad Pitt fight in Greek armor and glorious blond locks and not in the mud and squalor of the ancient Tigris-Euphrates River Valley.
We can simply thank Gilgamesh for giving us the first in the long line of epic works of literature and call it a day.
9. The Indus People
Now, just because yours truly doesn’t think about them daily does not mean the column means to promote them in a negative light. This is the case with the Indus people (3300 B.C.-1900 B.C.), whose civilization extended from present-day northeast Afghanistan to northwest India.
The Indus Valley people did a massive load of the dirty work developing society towards what it is today — metallurgy, drainage and standardized systems of weights and measures all stem from them.
They were a vital civilization in the grand scheme of things, but unfortunately, they were not nearly flashy enough to spark an ounce of daily thought on the part of this writer.
8. The Romans
Now, before the Illini Media Company office is besieged by enraged mobs armed with javelins and ballistae, allow for an explanation — the Roman Empire massively overshadows the actual long-running Roman civilization.
Thought regarding classic Roman imagery, from the Colosseum to the plumed helmets, stems from the military-oriented Empire. The actual early civilization, however, was just a town on the Tiber that was founded apparently by two guys who were raised by a wolf. Not the best look.
7. The Phoenicians
Now, here are the true head honchos of the Mediterranean — and they didn’t need any ridiculous helmet plumage or pretentious Latin language to do it.
Creating the greatest trade network seen at the time wasn’t easy, but these dashing seafarers made it seem effortless.
6. The Navajo
The pre-Columbian peoples who settled in what is now the continental U.S. numbered too many to fit into this list, so one of the largest and most influential stands here to represent them.
The Navajo currently inhabit the southwestern United States and have lived there since about 1100 A.D. This does not make them necessarily ancient, but the constant movement and intermeshing of Native American tribes between the Atlantic and the Pacific make it difficult to pin down just one civilization. However, I do wish I did think about these incredible people even more — if only they had a greater presence in the current educational system.
5. The Greeks
Democracy, and all that.
4. The Maya
As a Mesoamerican society brought up through the centuries without any outside help or influence, such as the ancient civilizations of Europe and Asia benefitted from, the Maya were extraordinary. They concocted hieroglyphic and mathematical systems all by themselves.
Before the syphilis-ridden Spanish colonists arrived, the Maya were one of the top dogs of the Western Hemisphere. While Europe was languishing in the nasty Dark Ages, the Maya were flourishing with well-toned systems of agriculture and astronomy.
3. The Inca
Take everything interesting and impressive about the Maya, and add a mountain range.
The Inca did everything every great ancient civilization accomplished all while lacking literal horsepower and the ability to cross to one side of the empire without having to embark on a trek that made “Lord of the Rings” look like a stroll around the park.
2. The Han
Born out of years and years of civil war, strife and an inordinate amount of book-burning, the Han Dynasty ushered in four hundred years of innovation and peace for China.
We can thank the Han for paper, the suspension bridge and the preservation of ancient Chinese culture and philosophy.
Thank you, Han Dynasty!
1. The Egyptians
This is my Roman Empire.
Egypt was massively ahead of its time, lasting longer than any other singular ancient civilization, stretching from about 3150 B.C. to 30 B.C. at the time of Cleopatra and the rise of, you guessed it, the Roman Empire.
Thanks to their skillful adaptation to the volatile conditions of the fertile Nile Delta, the Egyptians managed to create a civilization so advanced for its time that modern humans believe it could’ve only been the work of extraterrestrials.
Ancient human history is made up of much more than just gladiators — it’s comprised of remarkable peoples who shaped the world today and countless stories that explain exactly why we live the way we live today.
Aaron is a sophomore in Media.
