Agenda Reading Big Questions: Reflections: Classical Empires and the Twentieth Century Big Questions: In 3 o’clock appointment address your assigned BIG QUESTION Meet with another expert group and discuss answers Find 3 others who are experts in the other questions and discuss your answers Class discussion Work on chart for tomorrow organize and bucket your information into SPRITE See posted reading outlining similarities and differences of China and Rome

Controlled large areas and populations What common features can you identify in the empires you studied? (Persia, Greece, Rome, and China) Controlled large areas and populations Brought together by conquest and funded in part by extracting wealth from conquered peoples Stimulated the exchange of ideas, cultures, and values amongst peoples they conquered Sought to foster imperial identity that transcended more local identities and loyalties Collapsed

Some were new; others drew on older traditions In what ways did these empires differ from one another? What accounts for these differences? Some sought to rule through local elites; some with a more centralized power structure Some were new; others drew on older traditions Some lasted for considerably longer periods than others Some assimilated conquered peoples more quickly and completely than others

Impressive Destructiveness Are you more impressed with greatness of empires or with their destructive and oppressive features? Impressive Impact on regions conquered Sheer size and populations they ruled Military conquests Monumental architecture and public works associated with promotion of political authority Destructiveness Use of force necessary to build and maintain power Coercion to extract resources from conquered peoples

Several perspectives (reflections section) Do you think that the classical empires hold lessons for the present, or are present circumstances too unique as to cause the past to be irrelevant? Several perspectives (reflections section) Cultural memory of empires being used in modern world. Mao Zedong, British imperialism, Mussolini From opening of chapter Lessons for the US (Are we Rome?) Conquests led to political shift from a republic to an empire/imperial political system Basic problems such as overextension and creation of a unified identify that redefines conquered peoples are timeless issues that still exist today