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Cities, States, and Empires

Driving Question: How did complex societies develop and how did they impact humans inside and outside these communities?

Once people started growing their own food, everything changed. Small groups evolved into massive, complex societies with thousands—even millions—of people. Explore how some of these communities grew into powerful cities, states, and empires, and how those changes shaped life—for both for the people within them and the wider world.

Learning Objectives

  1. Investigate the development of agrarian societies.
  2. Understand the causes and effects of the development of cities and states.
  3. Use close reading to analyze how and why complex human societies formed.
STEP 1

Opener: Cities, States, and Empires

Ancient cities may not look like the ones we know today, but understanding the defining characteristics of cities, societies, and empires is key to making sense of the past.

STEP 2

Cities, Societies, and Empires

Farming changed everything: Villages grew into cities and states, trade networks expanded, and people built governments and religions to navigate their new, more-complex world.

Early Agrarian Societies (6000 BCE to 100 CE): Unit 3 Overview External link

Thanks to farming, humans built cities, empires, and long-distance trade routes. What can the story of a boy named Iddin-Sin tell us about these changes?

Key Ideas

As this video progresses, key ideas will be introduced to invoke discussion.
STEP 3

The First Villages

Before cities and large states, there were small villages and towns. What can life in those small communities tell us about who we are now?

STEP 4

Urbanization

Cities changed everything. Read the article to explore how cities reshaped economic and social life.

STEP 5

States and Empires

What’s a state? What’s an empire? Historians frequently debate these questions. Explore these articles to find answers, and then apply what you’ve learned in the activity.

STEP 6

Ancient Trade Routes

Trade routes connected the ancient world, spreading innovations, goods, and ideas.

STEP 7

New Tools, New Empires

Explore three different regions to compare how ancient trade networks affected each one. Then, use what you’ve learned in the activity to draw conclusions about the impacts of these exchange routes.

STEP 8

Societies Develop

Farming led to both cities and states, but even though many societies had similar structures and strategies, they weren’t all the same.

STEP 9

Teotihuacan and Maya City-States

Welcome to the ancient city of Teotihuacan, the dominant power in the ancient Mesoamerican region. Think you know what an ancient city was like? Teotihuacan might surprise you.

STEP 10

Closer: Cities, States, and Empires

Think about what you know to be true—and false—about the first cities, states, and empires. Can you tell what’s real and what’s not?