re: Most underrated ancient empire

Assyrians were the original badasses.

The fall of Nineveh would be a superb story if ever put to a movie.

I'm partial to the Poon Tang Dynasty. They had to differentiate themselves from the older Tang Dynasty which had something to do with drinks.

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Carthage

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Carthago delenda est

I’ve recently gotten into reading about the Hellenistic successor states of Alexander. My favorite is the Seleucid Empire.

I think the Incas, Aztecs and Mayans could hold their own.

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Carthaginian War Elephants must have been incredible

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The species of elephant they used are extinct now. But they were smaller than Indian elephants and much Much smaller than typical African elephants

Mauryan used them
Is ottoman ancient

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Mauryan used them

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No, they used Indian elephants

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Is ottoman ancient

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No. The Ottoman Empire formed 1000 years after the end of the classical/ancient era.

Don't know if this properly qualifies as ancient, since it's right on the cusp of the feudal era, but the Gothic, Frankish, and other Germanic tribes are criminally undervalued by mainstream historians as barbarian savages when in actuality they were far more just and governed far more effectively than their "civilized" Roman equivalents. The kingdoms they built in modern Spain, Italy, France, and Germany were just as impressive militarily as any more prominently remembered ancient empires, and ultimately only disintegrated due to internal division, not the wars of the Moslem or the Roman.

For something more ancient, the Scythians are similarly undervalued. They didn't build a unified empire so much as their people just happened to end up in the ruling castes of many different ancient states. If you see stories about Egyptian mummies with red or blonde hair, or engravings and pottery featuring such light-haired, blue-eyed conquerors, that's them, and the records have them as present in places as far-flung as Egypt, Persia, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley, all a long way from their home in modern Ukraine and the steppes north of the Caucasus Mountains.

EDIT: Since it's somewhat topical, I'm also convinced that a city called Atlantis really existed, though it was probably just a coastal town wiped out in a very large flood or storm, not some large empire.