Empires that rise and fall quickly often share several characteristics that lead to them being unstable and unable to endure. The most important characteristic that these empires share is their rapid expansion. Empires that expand quickly have trouble assimilating the people of the empire. Alexander the Great ruled Greece, Macedonia, Persia, Egypt, and parts of India. This expansion that started in Greece finished in only 10 years. Alexander had amazing military success, but this success caused rapid growth. The people of his empire were not unified, and did not see themselves as one empire. Shihuangdi Qin had similar problems when he started his empire in China. Because there was no strong national identity or political bureaucracy to maintain
