World history can sometimes feel like it’s one empire after another for thousands of years. Empires have been one of the most common features of human societies through history. But what are they? This article gives a basic definition and highlights several important features common to empires. It covers some of the earliest empires and asks, why did people form empires? Hint: It was all about inequality and control.

This article introduces the concept of empire and provides the necessary background to help you understand articles later in the course, which explore different empires around the world. As you read this article, keep track of how the author defines empire so you can evaluate whether the empires covered in those later articles match this article’s definitions.

Think about the following question as you read the article: How and why did empires develop and expand during this period? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. How does this author define empire?
2. Does the author think ancient Egypt was an empire? Why or why not?
3. What reasons does the author give for early states forming empires? What advantages did those early states have?
4. How does the author explain the power dynamic of the core’s control over the periphery?
5. What challenges did early empires face?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. How and why did empires develop and expand during this period?
2. Write down a list of the major characteristics that the author thinks are common to empires. Are any or all of these characteristics present in the political communities of which you are a part? Do you live in an empire?

Once empires are conquered, the new emperors and empresses need to figure out how to control them and how to maintain their authority and the authority of their descendants. This article lays out three typical methods of ensuring control and generating authority in ancient empires: gods, family, and taxes. Most ancient emperors claimed support from the gods, and they weren’t shy about telling people. Most emperors also tried to claim they had authority to rule because they came from an ancient family. Finally, to ensure they had enough money to crush rebellions, emperors taxed their peripheral subjects.

This article builds on the previous article’s definitions and explains some of the common methods that emperors used to maintain control and build their authority over the empire. By exploring the methods of imperial rule, this article will help prepare you to see commonalities and differences in the rule of the many different empires you will encounter later in the course.

Think about the following question as you read the article: How did rulers use different methods to legitimize and consolidate their power? Write this question at the top of the Three Close Reads worksheet. You will be asked to respond to this question again after the third read in the Evaluating and Corroborating section of the worksheet.

Preview—Skimming for Gist

Fill out the Skimming for Gist section of the Three Close Reads worksheet as you complete your first close read. As a reminder, this should be a quick process!

Key Ideas—Understanding Content

For this reading, you should be looking for unfamiliar vocabulary words, the major claim and key supporting details, and analysis and evidence. By the end of the second close read, you should be able to answer the following questions:

1. Why did Ashoka build and inscribe his pillars?
2. How did ancient emperors use family as a method of control?
3. What challenges does the author say women faced when they ruled empires?
4. How did emperors use religion to increase their authority? Give one example.
5. According to the author, how are rebellions like burps?

Evaluating and Corroborating

At the end of the third close read, respond to the following questions:

1. How did rulers use different methods to legitimize and consolidate their power?
2. The author gives only three methods for how empires increased control and authority. Can you think of some other methods they might have used?
3. This article argues that one result of empire formation was that women (empresses) became subordinate to men (emperors). How does this support or challenge patterns of gender equality or inequality in earlier periods or other types of states?

In this activity you will reflect back on what you have learned during this unit by comparing two political maps. You will also review your predictions about complex societies and trade routes from the Era 3 Part 1 activity you completed at the start of this era. Finally, you’ll analyze a map of trade routes and the spread of religions and discuss what patterns might connect them.

This activity begins with an identification opening in which you’ll identify 7 states in the year 100 CE. Next, you’ll compare the maps of political communities in 300 BCE and 100 CE as you evaluate how communities changed and stayed the same over this 400-year period. Finally, you’ll use a map of trade routes and the spread of religions to respond to a prompt.

Step 1

Individually, identify the states associated with the numbers on the black-and-white map of the world in 100 CE and record your answers on the worksheet.

Step 2

In small groups, examine the 100 CE Political Map alongside the 300 BCE Political Map that you saw in the Part 1 map activity earlier in the unit. You should compare these two maps and record three significant changes or continuities on the worksheet.

Step 3

Remaining in small groups, open and review the Spread of Buddhism and Christianity Thematic Map. Earlier in the unit, you completed the Part 1 mapping activity, in which you made some guesses and predictions about ancient trade routes and complex societies. How close were your predictions? What did you get right? Finally, as small groups, you should prepare a short paragraph or bullet list in response to this prompt:

At the beginning of this unit, there were no empires, portable belief systems, or long-distance trade. By the end of this unit, all these things existed in many parts of the world—but not everywhere. Using the maps you encountered in this unit as evidence, explain how empires, trade, and the spread of religions like Christianity and Buddhism were connected in Afro-Eurasia.