Chapter 4: Eurasian Empires

I enjoyed learning about the Eurasian empires during the Classical era, which spanned 1,000 years from 500 BCE to 500 CE and included:  The Persian Empire, the largest and most impressive of the empires; the Greek Empire, unified under Philip II and his son Alexander the Great and the originators of the Olympic Games; the Roman Empire, whose political systems still are emulated today, especially in the United States; the Chinese Empire, who was equal in size and population to the Roman Empire with a developed bureaucracy to hold the empire together; and the Indian Empire, which gave India its identity—a unique social organization called the caste system and the religion Hinduism.

A brief comparison between the Persian and Greek Empires, the Roman and Chinese empires, plus an explanation as to why the empires collapsed.

PERSIAN EMPIRE—IndoEuropean people, emerged in 500 BCE

·         35 million in state

o   Dozens of cultures

o   Dozens of states

o   Many languages

o   Cultural differences

·         Centered on Kingship cult.  King could be approached only through elaborate ritual and was
 VERY AUTHORITATIVE

·         Had administrative system in place

o   Governors in each of the 23 provinces

o   Had imperial spies—they were the eyes and ears of the King

·         General policy of respect for non-Persian cultures

o   Allowed exiled Jews in Babylon to return to their homeland and rebuild temple in Jerusalem

o   In Egypt and Babylon, Persian kings upheld religious beliefs/cults to foster Persian support

·         Survived 1,000 years prior to collapse

o   Imperial bureaucracy/court life (administrators, tax collectors, record keepers, translators became model for subsequent regimes, including Islamic world)

·         Infrastructure included

o   Coinage

o   Taxes

o   Canal linking Nile with Red Sea that allowed commerce/trade with Egypt

o   Roads, 1700 miles—facilitated communication/commerce

·         Immense wealth & power

GREEK EMPIRE—IndoEuropean people

·         Different from Persian in that there were hundreds of small, very competitive city-states or settlements that were fiercely independent and in frequent conflict with each other.

·         Allowed people various degrees of participation in political life

·         Emerged in 750 BCE; empire lasted 400 years.  Then, absorbed by other foreign empires.

·         Referred to themselves as Hellenes

·         Population 2-3 million people

·         Like Persians, there were an expansive people, but expansion took form of settlements in   distant places, rather than in conquests that became part of the empire.

·         Olympic Games—every four years, began in 776 BCE.

·         Spoke same Greek language, worshipped same Gods.

The greatest distinction between the Greek and Persian civilizations was in the participation in political life that occurred in Greece within the city-states.  It was unique in that the Greek men enjoyed “citizenship.”  While this citizenship varied both over time and from city to city (citizenship granted to the wealthy and gradually over time extended to middle and lower classes), the Greeks (men) were essentially a free people overseeing the affairs of the state and believed in equality for all citizens under the law.  Women, slaves and foreigners were excluded from political participation, however. 

Greco-Persian Wars—the East-West Divide

Land expansion essentially was the reason behind the Greco-Persian Wars.  It was a case of the small and divided city-states fighting the world’s largest empire.  While the Greek empire eventually did collapse 400 years later, there was a revolt by the Ionia Greek settlements against the Persians in 499 BCE where the Greeks regained control of their settlements.  Over the next ten years, the Persians attempted twice to regain control of the Greek settlements but were not successful militarily either by land or by sea.  These victories had a profound impact on the Greeks, whose very motivation for victory was the freedoms that their Greek way of life afforded them.  As a result of these victories, the worldviews associated with these wars were such that Persia represented Asia and despotism (tyranny and dictatorship), while Greece represented Europe and freedom.  So, the notion of the East-West Divide was born which continued to shape European thinking about the world into the 20^th century and beyond. 

Ultimately, the Persians were defeated years later after the collapse of the Greek empire.  Alexander the Great led a 10-year assault against the Persians that represented one of the greatest military feats of the classical period.  Alexander’s greatest accomplishments were in the widespread dissemination of Greek culture during world historians refer to as the Hellenistic era (323-30 BCE).  Elements of that culture now were found in Egypt, Mesopotamia and India!

COMPARING THE ROMAN AND CHINESE EMPIRES

At the same time that the Greeks and the Persians were fighting, two other classical empires were evolving: The Roman Empire on the far western region of Eurasia and China’s imperial state on the far eastern end of Eurasia.  Both empires flourished at the same time, occu

pied 1.5 million square miles each, and had 50 to 60 million people each.  They had almost no direct contact with one another and were slightly aware of each other. 

Similarities between these two empires were:

1.      They both felt that they were universal or governed most of the world.

2.      Both invested in public works—roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, protective walls, designed militarily and commercially.

3.      Both adopted supernatural beliefs to support their rule.

a.       Romans belied that deceased emperors became gods and established religious cults to support the authority of the living emperors.

b.      The Romans persecuted the Christians for not participating in their cult.

c.       The Chinese emperor was referred to as the “Son of Heaven.”

d.      Chinese emperor governed with a “Mandate from Heaven,” as long as he ruled morally and with benevolence.  If tragedy occurred, it was believed that the Chinese emperor governed poorly and tragedy was punishment.

4.      Both empires absorbed a foreign religious tradition. 

a.       Christianity developed in the Roman Empire and became the dominant religion of Europe.

b.      Buddhism came from India and developed in China.  It was introduced by Asian traders but received little support from the Han dynasty.  Emperor Wendi of the Sui dynasty reunited China and Buddhism became popular.

Differences between the two empires were:

1.      Rome’s beginnings were as a small city-state, which meant that the Romans/Italians were in the minority within the empire. 

2.      Chinese empire grew out of a much larger populous of which most of them were Chinese.

3.      As the Chinese expanded, they assimilated the non-Chinese or “barbarian peoples” culturally, linguistically, through intermarriage, and in physical appearance.

4.      Romans had a different type of assimilation—via the granting of citizenship to individuals for service to the empire or for the adoption of Roman culture.  Eventually, citizenship bestowed to almost all free people.  This form of assimilation conveyed a legal status rather than a cultural assimilation.  Benefits of citizenship were:  right to hold office, to serve in the Roman military units, to wear a toga.

Language served both empires in contrasting ways.  Latin, an alphabetic language depicting sounds, gave rise to Spanish, Portuguese, French, Italian, and Romanian, whereas, Chinese did not.  Chinese characters that represent words or ideas were not easily transferred to other languages.  Chinese could be understood by all literate people so cultural identities could NOT be maintained, whereas the people of the Roman Empire were able to maintain their cultural identities. 

The Han emperor Wudi established an imperial academy with the writings of Confucius to train officials for the elaborate bureaucracy that helped to hold the empire together.  This was the beginning of the civil service system with examinations and selection by merit.  Romans developed an elaborate body of law which was applied equally to deal with matters of justice, property, commerce and family life. 

What made for good government?  For those who inherited the roman tradition, it was good laws.  For those who inherited the Chinese tradition, it was good men.

After collapse of Roman and Chinese empires, China experienced 350 years of disorder, frequent warfare, and political chaos.  Then, a Chinese imperial state similar to Han dynasty reassembled under Sui, Tang, and Song—ruling persisted into 20^th century.  China’s bureaucracy provided stability even as dynasties came and went, and its agriculture was much more productive than Europe’s agriculture.  Re the fall of the Roman Empire, only the western half of the empire collapsed, while the eastern half, known as the Byzantine Empire, maintained the tradition of imperial Rome for another thousand years.  Nevertheless, no large-scale centralized imperial authority encompassing all of Western Europe has ever been re-established.  Most of Western Europe dissolved into various city-states and small territories ruled by princes, bishops or the pope.  Europe would become a civilization without an empire state.  Roman Catholic Church frequently at odd with state authorities. 

INDIAN EMPIRE—emerged in 600 BCE in South Asia

·         Fragmented collection of towns/cities, small republics governed by public assembles and some regional states ruled by kings.

·         Diverse—ethnically, culturally, linguistically

·         Hinduism—religious tradition, it is what has given India its identity.

·         Caste system—unique social system with “classes” of people--also responsible for India’s identity.

·         Once ruled by Persian emperors and then Alexander the Great.

·         Mauryan Empire (326 BCE to 184 BCE) large scale political system which was found in most of India.  Equivalent to Persian, Chinese and Roman empires, although not as long lasting. 

o   Population of 50 million

o   Large military force

o   Civilian bureaucracy, with ministries and large contingent of spies

o   Many industries: spinning, weaving, mining, shipbuilding, armaments

o   Financed using taxes

·         Gupta—short-lived empire (320 CE to 550 CE).

India’s history after empire collapsed resembled Western Europe rather than China or Persia. 

REASONS FOR THE COLLAPSE OF THE EMPIRES

·         Empires got too big, too over-extended and too expensive to sustain utilizing available resources.

·         Growth of large landowning families with huge estates were able to avoid paying taxes.  The free peasants became impoverished tenant farmers.  Central government authority diminished. 

·         Rivalries among elite factions created instability and eroded imperial authority.

·         Epidemic diseases

·         Growing threats from other regions

As I process the information learned from chapter 4, my interest turns to the reasons behind the collapse of the empires.  Chapter 4 opened with a brief discussion on the fall of the Roman Empire and suggested that perhaps a similar fate awaits the United States.  Needless to say, the US is over-extended (our national debt in the trillions of dollars), and it is very expensive to sustain our nation.  Certainly, we have over-utilized many of our natural resources.  Many would agree that our government has become corrupt, and it does seem as though the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.  The more money one has, the greater the ability to avoid paying taxes.  Certainly, today’s terrorists’ threats are disconcerting, as nations become more experienced in weapons of mass destruction (nuclear, biological, etc.).  Perhaps the way of the Roman Empire is our destiny…I would LOVE to have this class discussion!

Here are my discussion questions.

1:  What is an empire?  Include some of the characteristics seen in an empire.

2.  From the Greco/Persian Wars came the terms the East/West Divide.  Explain how that term came to be.

3.  Compare and contrast the Roman and Chinese empires (a minimum of five facts).

4.  Discuss the reasons behind the collapse of the empires.