10. The Roman/Byzantine/Ottoman Empire lasted from before Christ to Prohibition
The Roman Empire is generally agreed among historians to have lasted from 27 BCE until it split into the Eastern and Western Empires in 395 CE. Following the division, the Eastern Empire existed until 1453, when its capital of Constantinople was captured by the Ottoman Empire. For six hundred years communication by the nations of the west with the Orient was through the Ottoman Empire, giving it power and influence which dominated European politics regarding trade, and was in part incentive for finding another route to the spice islands of the east, which motivated Columbus to undertake his voyages of discovery. As the New World grew the influence of the Ottoman Empire, often called the Turk by the people of Europe and America, remained strong.
The Ottoman Empire remained a powerful influence throughout the Renaissance, the Napoleonic Age, and the growth of the global British Empire. During its existence the United States was born and grew into the 48 contiguous states, steam replaced sail as motive power for ships at sea, and horses on land. Einstein published his theories of matter, gravity, and relativity while the remnants of the ancient empire of the Romans continued to thrive. Women’s rights became an international issue, as did temperance. The entire history of the western world, the plague, the European wars of succession and empire, the growth of industry, trade, and political theory, indeed all of what we now call western civilization, developed under the eye of the remnants of the empire which originated with the Caesars. It continued to exist until 1923.