Most powerful ancient army

[King of the Uzbeks]

Of the fallowing ancient military who was the most powerful at its hight, not just in manpower but logistically and weaponry as well?

The Huns (pretend the poll option is this not Mongols)
Rome
Alexander the Greats Macedonia
Persia
Sparta
Athens
Other

Poll up top.

 

[Vingilótë]

Mongols, hands down, except for the part where they're not from any ancient era.

Otherwise, I'd say Rome.

 

[MrHaakwood]

Zmflavius was faster

I would have picked Mongols, but there are not really ancient so I tooked the Romans.

Perhaps this is a clichè but I think they had the best tech plus logistic plus support units.

 

[King of the Uzbeks]

Mongols, hands down, except for the part where they're not from any ancient era

Oops I thought they were anyhow let's just say any non-Knights in shining armor Europe/modern army counts

I went with Alexander the Great's Macedonia because A, it probably had some Athenians in it so a good navy and B, it completely steam rolled Persia.

 

[Vingilótë]

You could say Avars or Huns, and I think a fair argument could be made for both as being the most powerful.

 

[Alternate History Geek]

Rhomania.

filler

 

[GeneralInTheShell]

Romans, because the Mongols weren't part of ancient history/antiquity.

 

[The Kiat]

I'd say the Han, since Ancient China could field larger armies than Rome, and were equipped with crossbows. Yeah, Rome had access to those weapons too, but that didn't factor into their doctrine as much as their gladius. I think, 10k-for-10k, Rome could beat China IF they got close enough to do their thing. But they'll have to go through a rain of arrows and bolts.

 

[Winnabago]

Hmm, Mongols perhaps. Could they have gotten their act together in the classical age and done a similar round of conquests?

 

[Seraphiel]

Hmm, Mongols perhaps. Could they have gotten their act together in the classical age and done a similar round of conquests?

Nope the Mongols as an imperial force only happened due to many factors which were not present in the ancient era, over population, climate change (i think), weaker neighbor etc...

 

[Winnabago]

Nope the Mongols as an imperial force only happened due to many factors which were not present in the ancient era, over population, climate change (i think), weaker neighbor etc...

Huh. Considering how the Mongols had been there for several hundred thousand years, they probably had plenty of time to reach the population cap, but had no reason to move south thanks to the Roman warm period.

A chill felt around this time could easily push them into a collapsing Persian, Sassanid, or Seleucid Empire, for example.

 

[elkarlo]

I would say Mongols, by your lost. But I think nomads are cheating, as they create nothing, and have nothing to protect really. A civ that builds is more important and great imho.

 

[SlyDessertFox]

The Romans were the best ancient army.

 

[Captain Jack]

I said Rome because the Roman army was able to conquer and keep it's empire. Of the others only Persia was able to maintain it's empire an it fell relatively quickly in comparison to the Roman Empire. The Macedonian empire fell apart as soon as Alexander died and the same applies to the Hunnic (or Mongolian) empires. Finally, neither Athens or Sparta is in the same league as Rome and I doubt that even the best Spartan hoplites could stand against a Roman legion.

 

[Devolved]

I would have picked the Mongols but as others have said they're not ancient. Also the Romans were winning battles for century after century while the Mongols had just a couple of centuries in the sun.

 

[King Henry]

I said Rome because the Roman army was able to conquer and keep it's empire. Of the others only Persia was able to maintain it's empire an it fell relatively quickly in comparison to the Roman Empire. The Macedonian empire fell apart as soon as Alexander died and the same applies to the Hunnic (or Mongolian) empires

With this reasoning I vote other-China

 

[Nassirisimo]

The Mongols are the best army on the list, but they are not ancient, so I'll have to go with the Romans. They had an army so good that within the space of a hundred years, they conquered most of the Mediterranean whilst facing off civil wars, social crises and invasions. An impressive feat.

 

[Joyeux]

Rome. Their military engineering and siege craft was unmatched. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said that it wasn't truly matched until the early modern period, around the 17th Century.

 

[Dorozhand]

Absolutely the Mongols. All but one who faced them down in the open got their asses handed to them royally. And the one was only because they decided to play the same game the Mongols played.
The armies of Genghis Khan and his successors can pretty much be said to have pulled an Alexander several times over.

They were also really good at adopting the technology of the people they conquered. They were like an ancient borg

 

[Shogun]

The Romans -though I wonder why the Chinese army under the Han Dynasty was not included in this poll.