if you had the ability to take the leaders of ancient Rome, and transport them to 1775 British Court, and showed them all the technology, the map/scale of the Empire; all the luxuries, goods, peoples, infrastructure, medicine, astronomy, books (including the re-discovery of ancient Greek & Roman texts) etc. Most ancient Romans would probably agree that the British Empire was far greater than the Roman one

But now you're comparing apples with oranges. Of course a civilization that came later has more technology and luxuries and books. I could say that today's Italy has much more technology and luxury and books than 1775 Britain; but this is meaningless.

Our conversation was about which empire had the greatest share of world power of its time - militarily, economically, and culturally. In other words, which empire influenced world history the most.