Complex Empires

For almost as long as complex societies have existed, there have been debates and discussions concerning the characteristics that contribute to the long-term stability of these entities. Scholars have also given much thought to the different reason that led to the collapse of complex societies, nations, and empires. Over the years, it has been possible to identify several different factors, which in many cases overlap, that are used by historians and social scientists to explain the collapse of civilisations. These are usually divided into “internal” factors, such as class conflict, social dysfunction, economic crisis, depletion of resources, and “external” factors, like catastrophes and invasions. However, perhaps it would be better to focus …show more content…
Empires are political or territorial entities with certain characteristics which set them apart from other types of polities. Firstly, empires are often larger in size than these other kinds of states; they extend their power and influence beyond their original borders and their populations are usually comprised of different cultural, ethnic or religious groups. The way empires establish and maintain their power can vary. There are territorial empires, in which territories are militarily conquered and control is maintained with force, but there are also hegemonic empires, where the authority over other territories is indirect and usually maintained because of the political and economic influence they exercise over them. Moreover, sometimes the conquest of territories by an empire was accompanied by attempts to integrate new populations into the dominant groups, especially through religious conversion, while in other cases the conquering groups were satisfied with allowing the coexistence of separate religious and cultural groups within the …show more content…
The orderly and thorough nature of its bureaucracy ensured that the government had a good degree of control over the empire’s citizens, resources and territories. Through the payment of taxes, the government was able to invest in systems of irrigation and cultivation, as well as infrastructure in order to maintain good communication between the different parts of the empire. Moreover, military service based on conscription guaranteed a strong army, which was able to vastly expand the empire’s territory; this led to further economic prosperity, as it increased the access to resources, and allowed for the increase in wealth of the Han elites. However, with the end of the territorial expansion, these rich elites could not obtain new lands, therefore they were forced to increasingly make use of local resources in order to maintain their households; as previously mentioned, this led to the negative trend of over-exploiting and accumulating land and populations, while at the same time becoming more powerful and autonomous at the expense of the authority of the central government (Feng, 2013: 297). The imperial government maintained a relative stability throughout the Han period, thanks to a strong dynastic tradition which ensured there were no major issues concerning the succession of emperors. On one hand, the