史上最伟大的十大帝国

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of an empire is: when a single entity has supreme rule and powerover a vast area of territory, which consists of peoples of different ethnicityand nationality. This list is based on the influence, longevity and power ofthe various empires, and, as you will see, it contains at least one or twoentries that may strike some as controversial. My one requirement for this listis that the empire must have been ruled – for at least a majority of the time –by an emperor or king. This excludes modern so-called empires such as theUnited States and Soviet Union. The entries here are listed roughly byinfluence and size.


这里的“帝国”必须满足如下三个条件：领土广大，由多种族多民族构成，是区域内最高政权。这个榜单将根据影响力、持续时间和帝国本身的强大程度进行选取，您或许会对榜单中的一两位有不同意见。此外，这个榜单的一个条件上是所谓的“帝国”必须被一位皇帝或国王统治过，因而如美国和苏联这样的现代帝国将被排除在外。而进榜的帝国将大致按照影响力和国家体积进行排序。

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10
Ottoman Empire
奥斯曼帝国
At theheight of its power (16th–17th century), the Ottoman Empire spanned threecontinents, controlling much of Southeastern Europe, Western Asia and NorthAfrica. It contained 29 provinces and numerous vassal states, some of whichwere later absorbed into the empire, while others were granted various types ofautonomy during the course of centuries. The empire was at the center ofinteractions between the Eastern and Western worlds for six centuries. WithConstantinople as its capital city, and vast control of lands around theeastern Mediterranean during the reign of Suleiman the Magnificent (ruled 1520to 1566), the Ottoman Empire was, in many respects, an Islamic successor to theEastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire.
奥斯曼帝国在其全盛时期（十六到十七世纪）横跨三大洲，控制了南欧、西亚和北非的大块领土。奥斯曼帝国有十九省，并不计其数的诸侯国，其中一些在后期被吞并进了帝国，剩余的则在几个世纪间一直维持着不同程度的自治权。奥斯曼帝国雄踞东西方交流中枢长达六个世纪。帝国以君士坦丁堡为首都，在苏莱曼大帝时期控制着地中海东部大片土地。从某种意义上来说，奥斯曼土耳其帝国堪称是东罗马帝国的伊斯兰继承者。

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9
Umayyad Caliphate
倭马亚哈里发王国
TheUmayyad Caliphate was the second of the four Islamic caliphates (systems ofgovernance), established after the death of Mohammed. It was ruled by theUmayyad dynasty, whose name derives from Umayya ibn Abd Shams, the great-grandfatherof the first Umayyad caliph. Although the Umayyad family originally came fromthe city of Mecca, Damascus was the capital of their Caliphate. Eventually, itwould cover more than five million square miles, making it the largest empirethe world had yet seen, and the fifth largest contiguous empire ever to exist.The Umayyads established the largest Arab-Muslim state in history. From the timeof Mohammed until 1924, successive and contemporary caliphates were held byvarious dynasties – the last being the Ottoman Empire (above).
倭马亚哈里发王国是四个哈里发王国中的第二个，在默罕默德死后建立。王国由倭马亚王朝统治，这个名字来自王朝第一位哈里发的曾祖父倭马亚·伊本·阿拜德·夏姆斯。虽然倭马亚家族最早来自麦加，王朝却以大马士革为首都。自建立以来，这个国家最后变成了一个占地500万平方英里的巨大王国，这样的领土面积不仅是前无来者，同时也是历史上第五大疆土连贯的的帝国。倭马亚是历史上最大的阿拉伯穆斯林国家。自穆罕默德起到1924年，先后出现了数个哈里发王国，而最后一个就是上面说过的土耳其奥斯曼帝国。

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8

Persian Empire
or Achaemenid Empire
波斯帝国/阿契美尼德帝国
Babylonian,Akkadians, Assyrians, Sumerians, Hitites, Bactrians, Scythians, Parthians,Medes, Elamites, Egyptians, Ethiopians… Before the Romans, there were thePersians. They basically unified the whole of Central Asia which consisted of alot of different cultures, kingdoms, empires and tribes. It was the largestempire in ancient history. At the height of its power, the empire encompassedapproximately 8 million km2. The empire was forged by Cyrus the Great, andspanned three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.
巴比伦尼亚……在罗马之前，这些全都属于波斯帝国。波斯帝国当年基本统一了全中亚，帝国由不同的文化、王国、帝国和部落组成。它也是古代历史上最大的帝国。波斯帝国在其全盛时期约有领土八百万平方千米。帝国由居鲁士大帝建立，横跨亚非欧三大洲。

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7

Byzantine Empire
拜占庭帝国
TheByzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire, was the Roman Empire during theMiddle Ages, centered on the capital of Constantinople, and ruled by emperorsin direct succession to the ancient Roman emperors. It was called the RomanEmpire, and also Romania. During its existence, of over a thousand years, theEmpire remained one of the most powerful economic, cultural and military forcesin Europe, despite setbacks and territorial losses, especially during the Roman–Persianand Byzantine–Arab Wars. The Empire received a mortal blow in 1204 by theFourth Crusade, when it was dissolved and divided into competing ByzantineGreek and Latin realms. Despite the eventual recovery of Constantinople andre-establishment of the Empire in 1261, under the Palaiologan emperors,successive civil wars in the fourteenth century further sapped the Empire’sstrength.
拜占庭帝国又称东罗马帝国，是中世纪的罗马帝国。帝国以君士坦丁堡为首都，帝统自古罗马一系承袭而来，因而拜占庭也可被称作罗马帝国，或是罗马尼亚。拜占庭帝国存在了一千多年，虽然也遭遇过挫折，丢失过领土，但它当时仍是欧洲在经济文化和军事上最强大的国家，从罗马与波斯、拜占庭与阿拉伯的两场战争中就可见一斑。帝国在1024年终于因为第四次十字军东征而崩溃，随后便分裂成了相互敌对的拜占庭希腊和拉丁帝国。到了1261年，巴列奥略王朝皇帝下令重建君士坦丁堡，复辟拜占庭帝国，但到了14世纪帝国又陷入了持续的内战之中，终于元气大伤，再不复昔年之辉煌矣。

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6
Han Dynasty

汉朝
Duringthe Chinese period of warring states, the whole of China was embroiled in acivil war as the different kingdoms within it battled it out with each other inthe quest for supremacy. In the end, the Qin State won, and gobbled up thewhole of China, with 40 million people under it’s control. The Qin Dynastydidn’t last long, and soon it went to the Han, which eventually controlledChina for close to 400 years. The period of the Han Dynasty is considered agolden age in Chinese history in terms of scientific achievement, technologicaladvance, economic, cultural and political stability. Even to this day, mostChinese people refer to themselves as the Han people. Today, the “Han people”is considered the largest single ethnic group in the world.
战国时期，中国诸侯林立，一片混战，个个都想问鼎最高权力。最后秦国脱颖而出，强夺了整个中国，使四千万人民屈服于其控制之下。然而秦王国并没有持续多久，很快就迎来了汉朝。汉王朝控制中国近400年，这段时期被认为是中国历史在科学成就、技术进步、经济、文化、和政治稳定等多方面的黄金时代。直到现在，大部分中国人仍会称自己为汉人。如今世界上人数最多的民族就是“汉

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5
British Empire
大英帝国

At it’sgreatest extent, the British empire was known as the largest empire in history,as it covered more than 13,000,000 square miles, which is approximately aquarter of the Earth’s total land area, and controlled more than 500 millionpeople – again a quarter of the world’s population. As a result, the legacy itimprinted on these conquered lands is tremendous in terms of political reform,cultural exchanges and way of life. The English language, which it spread, isthe second most-widely spoken language in the world today, and many linguisticsagree that English is the defacto standard language of the world. The Britishempire is definitely one of the most influential empires ever to have existedin human history.
大英帝国面积之广大，堪称是历史上最大的帝国。帝国总面积一千三百万立方英里，接近地球总陆地面积的四分之一，并控制着超过5亿人口——这个数字也是当时世界人口的四分之一。如此庞大的大英帝国自然给它曾征服过的地方留下了丰厚的遗产，其中包括****、文化交流和生活方式等诸多方面。经过不断的传播，英语如今已然是世界上第二大使用最广的语言，许多语言学家都一致同意，英语实际上已经成为了世界的标准语言。介于这种种的成就，大英帝国无疑堪称是人类历史上影响力最大的帝国。

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4
Holy Roman Empire
神圣罗马帝国
Duringthe middle ages, they were considered the “superpower” of their time. At it’sheight, the Holy Roman Empire consisted of eastern France, all of Germany,northern Italy and parts of western Poland. Despite being relatively small interms of Empires, its influence on the history of central Europe is still felttoday. Incredibly the Empire lasted from the early middle ages ages to the 19thcentury. The Empire was formally dissolved on 6 August 1806 when the last HolyRoman Emperor, Francis II (later Francis I of Austria), abdicated following amilitary defeat by the French under Napoleon. Upon its collapse, the followingnations emerged: Switzerland, Holland, the Austrian Empire, Belgium, thePrussian Empire, Principality of Liechtenstein, Confederation of the Rhine andthe first French Empire.

神圣罗马帝国一度是中世纪的“超级大国”。在其全盛时期，神圣罗马帝国由法国东部、意大利北部、波兰西部部分领土和整个德国组成。虽然与其他帝国相比神圣罗马帝国似乎是小了一点，但他在中欧历史上的影响力在今天都能感觉到。神圣罗马帝国的寿命之长，竟令人难以置信地从中世纪早期一直延续到了19世纪。在最后一位神圣罗马帝国皇帝，弗朗西斯二世退位后（后来此人成为了奥地利帝国的弗朗西斯一世），帝国随即为法国的拿破仑所击败，并在1806年8月6日正式瓦解。随着神罗的崩溃，瑞士、荷兰、奥地利帝国、比利时、普鲁士帝国、列支敦士登公国、莱茵联邦和法兰西第一帝国等国纷纷开始了自己的崛起之路。

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3
The Russian Empire
俄罗斯帝国
TheRussian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolutionof 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia, and the predecessor ofthe Soviet Union. It was the second largest contiguous empire in world history,surpassed only by the Mongol Empire, and the third largest empire behind theBritish Empire and the Mongol Empire. At one point in 1866, it stretched fromeastern Europe, across Asia, and into North America.
俄罗斯帝国自1721年建立，一直延续到了1917年俄罗斯大革命方告终结。它是沙皇独裁的继承者，也是苏联的前辈。这个国家是历史上第二大疆土连贯的帝国，仅仅被蒙古帝国征服过一次，同时在领土上它也是仅次于大英帝国和蒙古帝国的第三大国家。直至1866年，俄罗斯帝国的领土一直延伸到了东欧、亚洲，甚至还有北美。

（译注：按俄罗斯及世界主流学派观点，“沙皇俄国”是1547–1721年间俄罗斯的国号，而1721年彼得大帝在与瑞典的大北方战争胜利后，被俄罗斯元老院授予“全俄罗斯皇帝”的头衔，正式称皇帝，从此以后的俄罗斯正式国号为“俄罗斯帝国”，不再称为“沙俄”。但中文中仍习惯将“沙俄”这个名称用于指18世纪以来的俄罗斯帝国，并相应地将俄罗斯帝国皇帝称为“沙皇”。）

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2
Mongol Empire
蒙古帝国
It allstarted when Temujin (who was later known as Genghi Khan), vowed in his youthto bring the world to his feet. He almost did. His first act was unifying thescattered Mongolian tribes. Then he set his sight on China, and the rest ishistory. From Vietnam to Hungary, the Mongol Empire is the largest contiguousempire in the history of mankind. Unfortunately for them, their empire was toobig to be controlled, and there was no unity among the different cultures. TheMongols were fearless and ruthless fighters, but had little experience inadministration. The image of the mongols as a brutal and savage people isrenowned through history.
蒙古帝国自铁木真而始（铁木真后来又被成为成吉思汗）。这一切都是源于少年铁木真（即后来的成吉思汗）的发下的一桩誓言：要让世界臣服于他的脚下，而他基本上也做到了。他首先整合了蒙古各部，随后便将视线转向了中国，后面的事情大家都知道了。蒙古帝国的领土可从越南一直到匈牙利，它是人类历史上最大疆土连贯的帝国。不行的是，这个帝国扩张得太大了，因而变得难于控制，各文化群体之间也没有什么团结可言。在打仗方面，蒙古人的确是勇猛无畏的战士，但在治国方面却没有多少经验。在历史上，蒙古人凶猛残暴的形象也是颇为著名。