1. Empires
By Mrs. Hoff

2. The Classical Era: 600 BCE to 600 CE
New Time Period:

3. What we’ve covered: Paleolithic and Neolithic Periods.
Rise of civilizations
What we’ve covered:

4. First Civilizations The first Civilizations were fragile:
Mesopotamian city-states were absorbed into larger empires.
Egypt suffered from foreign conquests
Indus Valley declined due to desertification and political collapse
China fragmented into warring states
First Civilizations

5. Continuities between the time periods:
Little fundamental change.
No technological or economic breakthroughs to allow new kind of human societies to emerge.
Agricultural civilizations are known for fluctuation, repetitive cycles, and minor changes, not by fundamental transformations.
Continuities between the time periods:

6. Changes between time periods:
More rapid population growth
States and empires emerge that are much bigger than the first civilizations.
Religious innovations:
Confucianism, Daoism, Hinduism, Buddhism, Greek rationalism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity and Islam.
Changes between time periods:

7. Changes between time periods:
More elaborate, widespread, and dense communication and exchange networks emerged after the end of the first civilizations.
Spread of technologies, like sugar production
Long-distance trade routes developed carrying goods, culture, and disease.
Changes between time periods:

8. Classical Civilizations
600 BCE to 600 CE
Emphasizes the traditions that developed in this period. The modern identities of many countries, regions, and civilizations are still linked to these achievements.
Largely based on the Eurasia experience (80% of the world’s population at this point was living in Eurasia).
Classical Civilizations

9. Common Features of an Empire
ALL EMPIRES:
Control large areas and populations.
Are brought together by conquest and funded in part by extracting wealth from the conquered.
Stimulated the exchange of ideas, cultures, and values among the people they conquered.
Sought to foster an imperial identity that is over local identities and loyalties.
Ultimately collapse.
Common Features of an Empire

10. Major differences among empires:
Some empires sought to rule through local elites; other empires sought to rule through more centralized power structures.
Some empires were new; others drew on older traditions.
Some empires last for longer periods than others.
Some empires assimilated conquered people more quickly and completely than others.
Major differences among empires:

11. Empire: Impressive or Oppressive?
Empires are impressive because of the impact they can have on regions they conquered.
Empires are impressive because of their sheer size and population.
Their military conquests are often impressive.
Their monumental architecture is impressive.
Their use of force often makes them destructive and oppressive.
Their use of coercion to extract resources also often makes them destructive and oppressive.
Empire: Impressive or Oppressive?