Conrad Demarest Model of Empire: Comparing Classical Era Empires

Characteristics / Roman Empire
(1000 BCE–476 CE) / Han China
(206 BCE – 220 CE) / Maurya/Gupta India
(600 BCE – 550 CE)
Necessary Preconditions
  • State-level gov’t
  • Agriculture
  • Environmental mosaic
  • Power vacuum
  • Mutual antagonisms
  • Military/tech resources
/
  • Republic (509 BCE)
  • Wheat, grapes, cattle
  • Central location in the Mediterranean basin provided launching pad for empire
  • Other city-states in central Italy competed for power; wealthy and resource rich states in Mediterranean region (Greece, Egypt, Spain, Carthage, etc.)
  • Peasant soldiers, naval power, inexhaustible population for army
/
  • Qin centralized gov’t kept in place (Legalism as governing philosophy)
  • Wheat, millet, pigs
  • TianshanMtns., Yellow & Yangtze R. (loess soil), Pacific Ocean
  • Warring states emerged before Qin unification
  • Peasant soldiers; iron weapons; inexhaustible population
/
  • Fragmented collections of towns & cities (small republics & regional monarchies)
  • Sesame, eggplant, rice, humped cattle
  • Himalaya Mtns., Khyber Pass, Ganges R., monsoons
  • Variety of peoples migrated from Central Asia (vast cultural diversity)
  • Had been ruled before by Persians & Alexander the Great
  • Chariot technology, war elephants, population inexhaustible (50 million)

Ideology that promotes personal
identification with the state, empire, leader,conquest, and/or militarism /
  • Cult of the emperor
  • Christianity (4th c. CE)
/
  • Emperor worship (“Son of Heaven”)
  • Mandate of Heaven
  • Confucianism (est. guidelines for moral behavior & good gov’t)
/
  • Hinduism
  • Caste system
  • Buddhism (under Ashoka)

Results/Rewards of empire:
  • Economic rewards
  • Relative stability and prosperity
  • Population increase
/
  • Large public works (roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, protective walls, etc.)
  • Long-distance trade increased
  • Rome was a city of over 1 million
  • Latin language broke into different dialects (Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French)
  • Elaborate body of law
  • Citizenship provided right to hold public office, serve in legion, wear a toga, etc.
  • Citizenship led to recognition of place in society (gov’t & military positions of leadership)
  • Opportunities for merchants
  • Roman-style urbanism
  • PaxRomana
  • Population increase as new lands were conquered
/
  • Large landed estates for supporters
  • Expansion of established cities
  • New capital (Luoyang)
  • Storehouses of food when supplies fell
  • Population increased as new land was colonized by farmers.
  • Chinese silk & other items traded extensively on Silk Road network
  • Conquered people became “Chinese” through intermarriage
  • Chinese written language ensured every different cultural group could communicate across the empire
  • Large bureaucracy created with Confucian scholar-bureaucrats
  • Civil service system established that awarded positions based on merits (had to pass difficult exams)
/
  • Thriving industries – spinning, weaving, mining, shipbuilding, & armaments
  • Vibrant economy made India focal point in Indian Ocean trade network
  • Cotton textile industry supplied cloth to Afro-Eurasian world
  • Strong guilds of merchants & artisans patronized arts & architecture
  • Lavish temples, public buildings, & religious festivals patronized by guilds
  • Focal point of extensive trade network in Indian Ocean basin
  • Ashoka’s Buddhist Edicts
  • Hindu & Buddhist traditions that later penetrated much of Asia
  • Impressive mathematics and science (astronomy)

Fall of empire:
  • Failure of leadership
  • Expansion beyond a practical limit
  • Lack of new conquests erodes
  • economic base and lessens faith inideology that supported the empire
  • Rebellions from within/ challenges from without
/
  • High turnover rate of Roman emperors
  • Excessive size, overextension, too expensive for available resources
  • Tax evasion by large landowning families placed burden on poor
  • Military service declined; foreigners recruited for army; border security neglected
  • Rebellions by Germanic tribes on the frontier (ex. Huns)
  • No large scale imperial system has ever been created again in W. Europe since
/
  • Court officials (eunuchs) vs. Confucian scholar bureaucrats
  • Excessive size, overextension, too expensive for available resources
  • Tax evasion by large landowning families placed burden on poor (ex. Yellow Turban Rebellion 184 CE)
  • Military service declined; foreigners recruited for army; border security neglected
  • Rebellions by nomadic tribes on the frontier (ex. Xiongnu)
  • 350 yrs. of disorder then creation of new imperial state (Sui, Tang, & Song)
/
  • India’s cultural diversity made it difficult for imperial states to command the kind of loyalty provided in Rome or Han China
  • Caste system made for intensely local loyalties at the expense of wider identities
  • Frequency of invasions from Central Asia smashed states that could have been nucleus for an all-India empire