These four empires were possibility the greatest of the time. Each empire had outstanding leadership by their founding leaders and the heirs. Each empire required a vast amount of man power, resources and were highly dependent upon their agriculture. Each empire had centralized governments with developed administrations. This led to uniform currencies and standards in weights and measures. The empires required their citizens to participate in both labor and military efforts. Additionally, each had a developed culture and a specific religion. Finally, every single one of these empires left a long lasting legacy such as that of the Romans.
In terms of success, each empire had its own degree. In Macedonian, Alexander the Great may have died young but his generals partitioned the empire and established states that shared several cultural traditions and endowed the Mediterranean world with some kind of cohesion such as a common language.
With the Mauryan empire, it collapsed after its three founding rulers but its cultural and religious efforts spread beyond India’s borders. Additionally, they were unable to create a sense of unity because of their inability to have a common language. This explains why India has several official languages.
The Han Empire lasted for four centuries and the name is given to many Chinese present day. They also established a common writing system.
The Romans were able to last the longest because of the internal changes that the empire went through. They went from monarchy to republic to empire.