The map above shows how big the Roman and Mongol Empires were at their respective peaks. The Mongols had the world’s largest contiguous land based Empire in history (and the second largest overall after the British), but just how much bigger was it than Rome?
- Mongol Empire: 24 million km2 (9.27 million mi2), 17.81% of world land area in 1270 or 1309
- Roman Empire: 5.0 million km2 (1.93 million mi2), 3.71% of world land area in 117
Here are a few books on the two Empires:
- The Mongol Conquests: A Captivating Guide to the Invasions and Conquests Initiated by Genghis Khan That Created the Vast Mongol Empire
- Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
- The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire: Volumes 1-3 of 6 (Everyman’s Library)
Here are some other maps of the two empires:
- What If the Mongol Empire Reunited….?
- An Incredibly Detailed Map of the Roman Empire At Its Height in 211AD
- Roman Empire GDP Per Capita Map Shows That Romans Were Poorer Than Any Country in 2015
- Travel Time from Ancient Rome
- Countries Which Have At Some Point Claimed To Be Rome’s Successor
- A View Of Roman Carthage, Built on the Site of the Previously Destroyed Punic Capital
- Roman City of Londinium Around AD 200
- The British Empire At Its Territorial Peak Covered Nearly The Same Area As The Moon
Find this map interesting the please share with a friend:
Chris Walker says
Land means nothing, how many roman roads, aquaducts and other engineering feats still stand today vs Mongols?
Hephaestis says
Exactly. When Britain or Spain ruled the waves, did the area of the Atlantic Ocean het included in their empires?
Augusta says
Isn’t Genghis Khan supposedly related to three percent of all humans or so?
That is absolutely a legacy, of a kind.
JS says
The Mongol empire was certainly larger by far than the Roman empire, but only lasted around a century. The Roman empire of course lived more than 10 times as long.
Marco says
They should call it “the Mongolian expansion”, not empire…
Ethan Staubach says
What are debating “biggest” on though. Mongol empire had most land, but Roman empire had larger percentage of the world population.
Artur says
It is interesting that conflicts are still ongoing in the marked areas.
David Staye says
while the romans reigned over cities and civilisations, the mongol reigned over cattle and empty fields.
Jun says
Thats untrue.
Alan says
The Mongol Empire ruled over 110 million people between 1270 and 1309 — more than 25% of the world’s population. This included China, which was the most advanced civilisation in the world in both the sciences and arts.
Europe at the time of the Roman Empire consisted mainly of small towns and tribes.
Slava says
The Mongols were way more developed than the Romans. Plus, of how much territory it took, I thing the Mongols would win.