Ancient Empires

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Across the globe and through nearly every period in human history, we find evidence for political states expanding their power and gaining control over their neighbors, near and far: in a word, empires. This course introduces students to a broad selection of pre-modern empires in an attempt to understand what an “empire” is, how empires arise (and fall), what features various empires have had in common, and how they have differed in terms of their political, social, and economic organization. We will pay special attention to methods of control and communication and to the nature of the relationship between rulers and ruled, including attempts at integration and resistance. The societies we will study include the Ancient Near East, Persia, Greece and Macedonia, Rome, China, India, and Mesoamerica as they are revealed through the evidence of art, law, literature, and religion. We will also tackle the notion of “imperialism,” a term first coined in 19th-century England—and one which now holds a negative connotation (the overreaching of an imperial power). Can the modern term “imperialism” be usefully applied to ancient empires? And, in the other direction, can our ancient examples shed light on modern empires and imperialism?