The Three Major Empires

The Three Major Empires

The first empires began in Mesopotamia, the Nile valley, and the Yellow River valley. Empires often are not created. In some cases empires are formed then a transition from one ruler to another over the same region is made. For example the Persian Empire came from the conquering and incorporation of the Egyptian, Medes, Babylonian, and Lydian kingdoms that made up western Asia. Then the Persians were defeated by the Greeks under Alexander the Great, taking western Asia and extending Hellenistic culture as far east as India.

What is an Empire? The definition of an empire is the extension of political rule by one people over another, different peoples. The extension of political rule usually comes through warfare. One group forcibly dictating it’s rule over another group. In my paper I will look at how Rome, China, and India extended their rule over their neighbors. I will also compare and contrast their hierarchical structures, historical literature, and emphasis on armed forces.

The traditional founding date of Rome is 753 B.C.E, although this may not be

accurate it probably is not far off. At conception the neighboring Etruscan’s ruled Rome. The Romans learned about city building from the Etruscans. They also adopted Etruscan art, religion, mythology, and language. The Romans expelled the Etruscans in 509 B.C.E. and declared itself a democracy.

The Romans used force to bring others under their rule. The Romans began the spread of their rule by forming alliances with nearby city-states in Latium and began to rival its former rulers the Etruscans. In 405 B.C.E the Romans attacked the principal Etruscan City, Veii. The Romans captured the city 396 B.C.E. Rome adopted a reverse “do...

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...maintaining an empire caused the elite to exploit the poor in China also. In 184 C.E the Yellow Turban revolt broke out. It was put down but it triggered a continuous string of additional outbreaks and lead to the breaking up of China for 400 years.

In India there was a caste system. The caste system is a part of the Hindu religion. In the caste system people are born into a role. They do what their parents did. This caste system has lasted until recent times.

From Rome and China we have clear political, military, economic, administrative, and personal literature. When the Han came to power China became a Confucian society and Confucius put great emphasis on recording history. However in India we do not have such literature. For India we rely on accounts and observations of foreign visitors. We learn about their values from their religious texts.