When comparing stereotypical classical empires (in this instance, let's say Greece, Rome, Mongolia, Egypt, or any other you want to throw in), which would you consider most significant in the advancement of technology in their prime. For example, Rome at its height obviously had greater technology than Greece. However, Grecian mathematics is widely considered far more influential than any Roman contributions.
the most significant advancements in technology have been the ones that have been relatively the most recent. and i'm not too sure what the name of the most recent empire is. nowadays with so much media coverage, if you're gonna get away with doing an empire you usually have to be pretty discrete about it