ancient civilisations and empires in history

let's list 'em.
off the top of my head, there's ancient greece (philosophy! sculpture! tragedy!), rome (gladiators), the byzantine empire/constantinople (mosaics, awesome architecture), ancient india (uh.. elephants?), ancient egypt (pyramids and papyrus!) .. ancient china (vases, funny hats and robes), feudal japan (ninjas)

am I missing any? add please.

A report by a roman commander, during the pillaging of carthage, stated his admiration for carthaginian architecture, which was able to create buildings that had multiple floors using the common materials of the day and still be structually sound against fire.  This was just praise, since this was known as a "lost art" that not even the romans could reproduce (they used concrete instead).  Buildings didn't gain this until the 15th century, and even then were not really structually sound.
FYI 3 floors <> 3 stories
Any tall building back in the day was made from stone or some other hard material.  Carthaginians used wood and mud.  If you tell yourself anyone could make a thatch wood hut, you're right.  But ask a qualified structural engineer if he could make a building out of wood that had more than 3 floors above ground, and he'll tell you that it can't be done without reinforcing with harder materials.
You're right, "conquered" should have been replaced with "subjugated", which is what Alexander the Great did.
def. subjugated: to be placed under the laws and judgement to a foreign power; governmental control handled by a foreign power
Remember, Alexander the Great was NOT A GREEK.  He controlled the greeks, which makes him a subjugator.
As for China, there were rumours of a great and WEALTHY civilization on the other side of the Indian ocean.  He never got there, but if he did, you'd have railways being built at the time of the Great Library.
The celts were never white.  Especially compared to the white-skinned romans.  Another thing was that the quote "Veni Vidi Vici" (I Came, I Saw, I Conquered) was uttered by Julius Caesar when he set foot on the British Isles.  This was really an historic achievement, since the British Isles were nothing more than myth.
Oh, and Babylonia was also the birthplace of the Alphabet.  The english alphabet is based on the Latin (used by the Romans) based on the Greek inspired by the Babylonian alphabet.
Historical records show no account of a tower reaching to the heavens in ancient babylonia.  However there were some theological arguments in Athens during the age of Antiquity of building a tower to speak with the Gods.