The earliest of empires showed up during the era of the First Civilizations when Akkadian, Babylonian, and Assyrian empires encompassed the city-states of Mesopotamia and then established imperial tradition in the Middle East. As for Egypt, it became an imperial state when it temporarily ruled Nubia and the lands of the eastern Mediterranean.
Empires: states, political systems that exercise coercive power. Reserved for more larger and aggressive states that conquer, rule, and extract resources from other states and peoples. Empires have encompassed a variety of peoples and cultures within a single political system; and have been associated with political or cultural oppression.
Eurasian empires (second-wave era)
Persia, Greece under Alexander the Great, China during the Qin and Han dynasties, India during the Mauryan and Gupta dynasties all shared common problems - imposing culture of imperial heartland, ruling conquered people directly or established local authorities, extracting wealth of empire through taxes, tribute, and labor while maintaining order, etc.
Why the fascination with empires?
They were big, creating a looming presence over their regions. They were also bloody and important.
In the era between 500 B.C.E. and 500 C.E., the second-wave civilizations flourished in the Mediterranean world, Middle East, India, and China.
Persians and Greeks
- Both these civilizations, physically adjacent to each other, has a century-long interaction and clash; it was one of the most consequential encounters of the ancient world.
*The Persian empire was the largest and most impressive empires in 500 B.C.E. Persians were an Indo-European people whose homeland lay on the Iranian plateau. The Persians, under the Achaemenid dynasty (553-330 B.C.E.), constructed an imperial system that drew on previous examples such as the Babylonian and Assyrian empires. Under the leadership of Cyrus (557-530 B.C.E) and Darius (522-486 B.C.E.), Persian conquests reached from Egypt to India - intertwining 35-50 million people - which in turn created an immensely diverse group (peoples, states, languages, and cultural traditions).
- Persian empire centered on cult of kinship . Ruling by the will of the great Persian god Ahura Mazda, kings were absolute monarchs who deserved their title in the eyes of many - "Great king, King of kings, King of countries containing all kinds of men, King in this great earth far and wide").
-Persian empire also had an effective imperial system: Persian governors (satraps), imperial spies ("eyes and ears of the King").
-Because of their imperial bureaucracy and court life filled with administrators, tax collectors, record keepers, and translators, the Persian empire became a model for the other subsequent regimes in the region. They also had a system of standardized coinage.
*The Greeks were also an Indo-European people. The Greeks, who called themselves Hellenes, created a civilization that was distinctive. The total population of Greece and the Aegean basin was 2-3 million. Their civilization took place in steep mountains and valleys. They were developed in hundreds of city-states or small settlements; and most were modest in size and consisted of 500-5000 male citizens.
-Each of the city-states were fiercely independent. and had conflict with neighbors. But, they spoke the same language and worshiped the same gods. All of them stopped their conflicts every 4 years for the Olympic Games which began in 776 B.C.E.
-The Greeks were also an expansive people.
-Their most distinctive feature was the idea of "citizenship." Free people managing the affairs of state, equality of all citizens before the law was very unique.
*The Greco-Persian Wars
-Persia tried to conquer parts of Greece; but Greece fought back. Surprised by this act of rebellion, Persia tried to punish Greece with major military expeditions; but luckily enough, the Greeks held them off on both land and sea. Beating the Persians in battle was a huge source of pride for Greece. The victory also radicalized Athenian democracy.
The second-wave empires proved legitimacy for contemporary states, inspiration for new imperial ventures, and abundant warnings and cautions for those looking to criticize more recent empires.
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