Over a 10-year period, fighting across modern-day Turkey, the Middle East, and as far away as Afghanistan and Pakistan, Alexander routed Persian king Darius III, taking the empire for his own.

For a little over 200 years, the First Persian Empire ruled over a vast expanse ... it stretched from its base in Persia - roughly analogous to modern-day Iran, all the way to India in the East ...

According to Guinness World Records, which seems as good an authority as any, the answer is the Achaemenid Empire in 480 B.C. Also known as the Persian Empire, it's estimated that 44% of the world ...