To built an empire

>>3042616
Conquering is the easy part of empire building. Maintenance is where most fall apart, mostly because of cultural differences across the large expanses of land it takes to create an "empire" causing conflict with the ruling elite.

>>3042636
Is this what that hot new meme of "amateurs learn tactics, experts learn logistics" or something like that I've been hearing about so much is about?

>>3042616

The Roman Empire great slowly over centuries, it doesn't compare with the vast conquests of Alexander or Genghis, or even Attila. It seems like most empires collapse after their founder's death, surviving is rather the exceptional case.

As to how some live while most die, pure dumb luck is probably the most important factor, establishing a dynasty to provide continuity of rule is important, but so is having weak neighbours you can quickly gobble up to fuel an Imperial economy. Longer term, a solid economic system, an effective military recruitment program, and an ongoing cultural or literal colonization of the conquered areas is essential, "hands' off" rulers seldom build lasting empires.

>>3042666
Well, there are two types of conquest, slow annexation and rapid expansion.
The latter tends to happen over areas that are in turmoil already, for example, the Muslim Conquests. Everything the Muslims conquered was in some state of civil unrest.

>>3042666
It would seem impossible for an empire to spread it's culture to lands far away in the short lifespam of the average person.

Like, if you're continually expanding into new territory you'd be having to continually increase your maintenance cost, since every new bit of land is a bit of land you have to keep under your control while at the same time trying to take even more new land.

>>3042691

This is why ancient conquerors used colonization, establishing new cities of their own culture to administer the conquered regions. The actual adoption of the ruling culture by the subjects takes much longer, several generations at least, since you need to be raised speaking the language of the rulers and immersed in their culture before you can consider changing your cultural identity: Greek spread pretty quickly but even by the time of the Moslem conquests large parts of the "Greek" east still spoke pre-Greek language, Arabic in turn spread very slowly, even into the 19th and 20th centuries it was a minority language, its very rapid modern spread has come with the arrival of universal education.

>>3042676

Rome conquered rapidly but in a stop-start manner, digesting each new province before adding another. This is analogous to how the Ottomans conquered but unlike the conquests of Genghis, Alexander, and Nappy, which all collapsed as quickly as they rose.

>>3042616
you think rome did it "right"? lots of stupid shit happened in rome.

>>3043454

It lasted between 700 and 1,800 years, depending who you ask. Certainly any state that survives longer than the global average (~200 years) has done SOMETHING right, even if it's just synchronicity.