In the ancient world there were many kingdoms and empires. There were many obstacles when it came to unifying an empire, whether it be from sheer size to religious differences, it was the empires duty to find a way to unify its people. Three empires that stood out were the Old Babylonian Empire, the Achaemenid Persian Empire, and the Roman Empire. Each empire had their flaws, but they also had something unique to offer. The Roman Empire understood just what it meant to unify its people and made itself an ideal place to live. The Old Babylonian Empire on the other hand, could have used to help. While it was a seemingly good place to live at the time, it was not built to last.
The Old Babylonian Empire
The Old Babylonian Empire ruled from 1779
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It would likely have eased some of the minds of worried citizens knowing that it was not all for not. In addition to his war-related advancements, some other advances that Hammurabi made to gain his people’s favor was rebuilding and bettering the city’s infrastructure by constructing roads and an extensive canal system. Finally, Hammurabi’s most infamous addition to the Old Babylonian Empire, the Code of Hammurabi. This high basalt stele was erected in the 18th century BC and is written in cuneiform script and the Akkadian language. The Code of Hammurabi contains almost three hundred laws and legal decisions, with its principle subjects being family law, slavery, professional, commercial, agricultural and administrative law. The longest section of these laws is on family, covering everything from marriage and divorces to incest and inherence, this is due to family being the basis of Babylonian society. Though it had to have been tough to be in a constant battle, the Old Babylonian Empire was still a good place to live for its time. It had good roads and canals and a universal set of laws to bring people together under one …show more content…
It spanned from Egypt to Anatolia (modern day Turkey) covering all of Mesopotamia. The Achaemenid Persian Empire began when the king of Persia, Cyrus II, defeated King Astyages of Media, who controlled much of Iran and eastern Anatolia. Cyrus won this battle, but due to the upset in the region, and close allies, there would be many more battles before peace was restored. Cyrus systematically conquered the Lydians of western Anatolia and the Babylonians who controlled Mesopotamia and the eastern Mediterranean. Then his son, Cambyses, gained control over Egypt. With an empire of this magnitude and the constant threat of a war over land, there was no doubt a struggle to maintain unity among the
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.
In the several hundred years we’re concerned with from about 200AD – 700AD, Mesopotamia experienced control by three main empires: the Romans, Persians, and finally Muslims. The Romans seized control of the area in 198AD from the Persians, more specifically the Parthian Dynasty. In 226AD, the Parthian Persian dynasty was replaced by the Sassanid. This new Persian dynasty would fight cont...
Other civilizations attempted to invade their lands, the empire was divided and then joined together, and legalization of Christianity. Because of Christianity the people were no longer beholden to the emperor or many gods that they once worshipped. The old customs of the Roman people were replaced by a monotheistic lifestyle. Combined with the other challenges that the Romans were facing, the loss of Roman traditions to Christianity was too much for the declining Roman Empire to
In the third century AD, the Roman Empire was thrown into chaos through several civil wars due to a lust for power; many people were only interested in how influential they were, rather than acting for the benefit of the country. Since the Roman Empire was constantly expanding and becoming more powerful, Diocletian, the emperor at the time, deemed it to be too big to be ruled by only one emperor. The Empire was split into two parts, the Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire. The Western Roman Empire didn’t last long; it fell during the 5th century AD when it was conquered by the barbarians. The Eastern Empire lasted a thousand years before it finally fell at the hands of the Turkish.
The Roman Empire and Han dynasty both rose and fell similarly and differently. One common theme concerning the rise and fall of empires is that it is all about power. The gain of power results in the success of an empire, while the loss of power causes the
The Roman Empire was a great and big empire that lasted hundreds of years. It had a great impact on a lot of civilizations. The Romans went from a small civilization to one of the greatest empire of all. But then, was ripped apart into pieces until there was nothing left.
In 285 CE, the emperor Diocletian divided the Roman Empire into two empires: the Western Empire whose capital was Rome and the Eastern or Byzantine Empire whose capital was Constantinople. He divided the empire because it was becoming too big for one person to rule. From this time on, the two empires would seldom work together and not because of rivalry, but merely because of one, the Byzantine Empire, surpassed the other, causing it to need the Western Empire less and less.
The Roman Empire encompassed a huge amount of territory, but also allowed people of many different cultures to retain their heritage into modern times.
This may have made the Empire easier to govern but in the long term the two halves began to drift more and more apart. The East and West failed to successfully work together on a variety of issues which lead to the two half’s fighting over military aid and resources. As the Eastern Empire began to grow along the gulf so did the wealth of the Empire, the Western Empire however was feeling the opposite effects. Because the Eastern Empire became a lot more powerful it began to push invasions away towards the much weaker Western Empire. The Western empire was simply an easier target for outside forces so they didn’t bother with the Eastern
The Roman Empire hit its height around the year 117 AD, where it was over five million plus square Kilometers. Soon the Roman Empire would be ravaged by disease and poverty. To cope with this the Empire would split into two in able to cope with the rising trouble. This would create the Eastern and Western Empires. In 476 AD the last emperor of the Western Empire was overthrown by Germanic leaders. This led to the collapse of the western Empire. So why did the Eastern thrive while the Western fell? They thrived because of location, allies, and trade.
These strengths were a strong foundation, standardization of many elements across the empire, and strong leaders who were able to effectively rule. The loss of these strengths would ultimately lead to the downfall of the Roman Empire. As time passed, the empire grew further from its original foundation, losing sight of many of its original attributes inherited from the Republic. In addition, they grew over-extended as an empire, making standardization very difficult if not virtually impossible. As future emperors attempted to extend aspects of the empire to these outlying areas, their power to do so was challenged by external influences. All of this caused an erosion of the cohesion which the standardization had brought, especially when the empire was divided between East and West. Lastly, as emperors stopped effectively using the strengths which had been used by past emperors, specifically the manipulation of the upper class and the Senate, the empire grew gradually weaker. Unable to manage such a massive empire virtually alone, even strong emperors were often left in weak positions, unable to deal with the frequent Germanic intrusions and military revolts. In short, many of the things which enabled the Roman Empire to survive for over 400 years were also the things which ultimately led to or enabled its
These civilizations were possible because the people in the areas became sedentary and agricultural. They were able to do this because of the vast natural resources and climates of where they lived. Their cultures were for the most part male dominated, possessions usually past through the male line from one male member to another male. Women would normally move to the male’s village when they got married. All three empires had some form of writing, the use of a calendar and math. They all had elaborate and highly decorated ceremonial architecture, including temple-pyramids, palaces and observatories, all built without metal tools. They had no metal tools, no draft animals, and very little use of the wheel. They did understand the use of the wheel but because of the geography where they lived they could use it very little.
Throughout history, there have been a variety of great and powerful empires. However, regardless of how powerful they were able to become, each empire had it's unfortunate downfall and ultimate ending. Perhaps two of the most powerful empires ever to exist and crumble were the Roman and Egyptian empires, both of which enjoyed long periods of wealth and success in their pasts. While the two empires operated on extremely different terms and conditions, there is undoubtedly good reason for comparison of their downfalls considering that the causes generally surrounded the fact that the empire suffered invasions. Of course, this was not the only reason in either case, but in both circumstances invasion played a significant role in the fall.
The Romans were a powerful civilization and had one of the largest and greatest empires of all time. Their vast civilization allowed for the integration of many different types of people into one large country, no weak and certainly no ill-advanced civilization could do such a thing. The Romans were responsible for the near destruction of Christianity, killed its savior, then embraced it.
Rome at its peak was one of the greatest empires in the history of the world. Rome had modest beginnings, in the 10th century BC. (Knight, H) Soon, however Rome was to become one of the largest empires of its time. However, when Rome hit its peak everything started to go wrong. Rome started to suffer both economically and socially. The economic crisis during the later parts of Rome’s existence was a major contributor to the decline of Rome. Socially, Rome started to fail socially with huge inequality and the increased use of slaves putting many out of work. (Knight, H) As well, there was sparks of conflict internally leading to countless civil wars between different political groups. (Knight, H) The political aspect of society was also a massive downfall for the romans. The emperors were chosen by violence, or by birth, so they weren’t always capable leaders. They started to get lazy and not work hard to solve the issues for the lower class. (Knight, H)