Empires as systems

Empires were political communities where a central group had governing control over outside groups on the periphery. The outside groups had fewer rights than the central group. This difference between these two groups is what made the state an empire, rather than a kingdom.

A third group that could affect an empire’s power were the people who lived just beyond the border. Often they were tribal people who were seen as barbarians by the empires. Sometimes an empire bordered another powerful state.

Empires also served as economic networks through which goods and resources could be exchanged. The people who lived on the other side of the border were also a part of this network. They provided some benefit to the center’s economy, typically resources or labor. An empire’s merchants often crossed borders to trade with neighboring peoples, even when it was forbidden. There were also exchanges of ideas and Barbarian groups usually adopted some characteristics of the empire.

Why do empires collapse?

Historians have long provided theories for why specific empires collapse, some of which can be contradictory. We’ll try to understand some patterns that lead to an empire’s collapse. Two general measures help us to evaluate the health of empires.

The first is money. Empires were very expensive to maintain due to expenses like armies, food and resources, and education. Healthy empires with adequate resources could respond to invasion or natural disasters. Eventually, these burdens would become too much and empires would not have the money to handle their usual problems. A small event could cause the collapse of the empire, like the straw that broke the camel’s back.

The second measure is cohesion (unity), which would decline in the empire center as the empire aged. Elites became more interested in their own wealth than with the empire. Peripheral people developed a stronger sense of group identity separate from the empire.

These two factors of cost and cohesion combined could combine to cause an empire’s collapse. For example, elites in the center would become less motivated to help the emperor as the empire struggled with expenses. The emperor would be unable to respond to a crisis such as rebellion, plague, or attack from outside groups.

Another factor was the growth, decline, or movement of populations in an empire. If the population decreased, the empire would lose tax revenue. If it increased, the empire would struggle to provide for everyone. If an empire could not provide what its people needed, they usually rebelled.

From theory to reality: Han dynasty China and the Roman Empire

In this lesson, we will learn mainly about the collapse of two empires. The Western Roman Empire fell in 476 CE and the Han dynasty in China fell in 220 CE. They were both powerful empires that experienced similar problems.

First, let’s look at the money measure. Both empires lost revenue as elites began to take taxes for their own use. Then the empires saw a decrease in the number of people they were able to tax. In Rome, peasants moved out of reach of tax collectors. In China, people fled the barbarian raids along the border. The empire was unable to collect tax money from the people who fled—which they needed to fight off the barbarian raids.

Both empires also had problems with cohesion. The Romans and Han saw themselves as superiors and treated outside groups poorly. The outside groups realized how strong they would be by coming together. They became a much more serious threat to the empire.

Collapse elsewhere

There are many examples of empires in other parts of the world collapsing. One is the Persian Empire. The Persian Empire became weakened through civil wars and assassinations. It was not strong enough to resist Alexander the Great when he conquered it in 334 to 323 BCE.

The Incan Empire fell to the Spanish in the sixteenth century. The story has usually been that the Spanish were more advanced than the Inca, but this is not accurate. The Incan Empire had been weakened by civil war and anti-Incan peripheral groups. The Spanish arrived at a time where the Inca were too weak to resist.