Between Genghis and Caesar

You may not have known it, but in terms of his biological progeny, Genghis Khan was the most successful man of all time. It is estimated that one in every 200 people is a descendant of the prolific 13th-century khan of the Mongol Empire. That means that his military strategy of killing and raping brought countless biological dividends for future generations.

But if we look a bit deeper into the fate of Genghis Khan’s empire and its legacy, this is another matter entirely.

You can divide empires into two basic types: those whose legacies live on after being conquered, and those that disappear completely. The Roman Empire shredded the Gauls, Brits and Dacians like heads of cabbage. Nonetheless, the British take great pleasure in showing tourists Hadrian’s Wall, built in the second century by Roman invaders in what is today northern England. 

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