Key Concept 2.2: The Development of States and Empires
I. The number and size of key states and empires grew dramatically by imposing political unity on areas where previously there had been competing states.
- Southwest Asia: Persian Empires
- Achaemenid
- Parthian
- Sassanid
- East Asia: Qin and Han Empire
- South Asia: Maurya and Gupta Empires
- Mediterranean region: Phoenicia and its colonies, Greek city-states and colonies, and Hellenistic and Roman Empires
- Mesoamerica: Teotihuacan, Maya city-states
- Andean South America: Moche
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II. Empires and states developed new techniques of imperial administration based, in part, on the success of earlier political forms.
A. In order to organize their subjects, the rulers created administrative institutions in many regions.
- Centralized governments
- Elaborate legal systems and bureaucracies
- China
- Persia
- Rome
- South Asia
B. Imperial governments projected military power over larger areas using a variety of techniques
- Diplomacy
- Developing supply lines
- Building fortifications, defensive walls, and roads
- Drawing new groups of military officers and soldiers from the local populations or conquered peoples
C. Much of the success of the empires rested on their promotion of trade and economic integration by building and maintaining roads and issuing currencies.
III. Unique social and economic dimensions developed in imperial societies in Afro-Eurasia and the Americas.
A. Cities served as centers of trade, public performance of religious rituals, and political administration for states and empires.
- Persepolis
- Chang’an
- Pataliputra
- Athens
- Carthage
- Rome
- Alexandria
- Constantinople
- Teotihuacan
B. The social structures of empires displayed hierarchies that included cultivators, laborers, slaves, artisans, merchants, elites, or caste groups.
C. Imperial societies relied on a range of methods to maintain the production of food and provide rewards for the loyalty of the elites.
- Corvée
- Slavery
- Rents and tributes
- Peasant communities
- Family and household production
D. Patriarchy continued to shape gender and family relations in all imperial societies of this period.
IV. The Roman, Han, Persian, Mauryan, and Gupta empires created political, cultural, and administrative difficulties that they could not manage, which eventually led to their decline, collapse, and transformation into successor empires or states.
A. Through excessive mobilization of resources, imperial governments caused environmental damage and generated social tensions and economic difficulties by concentrating too much wealth in the hands of elites.
- Deforestation
- Desertification
- Soil erosion
- Silted rivers
B. External problems resulted from security issues along their frontiers, including the threat of invasions.
- Between Han China and the Xiongnu
- Between the Gupta and the White Huns
- Between the Romans and their northern and eastern neighbors.