World History: The Classical Empires and Age of Kingdoms

By the last centuries BC the Mediterranean, the Ganges and the Yellow River became the seats of empires which future rulers would strive to imitate. In China the Qin and Han dynasties extended the rule of imperial government through political unity, improving communications and also notably the establishment of state monopolies by Emperor Wu. In India, the influence of the Guptas spread over much of the north subcontinent and Pandyas at the south of the subcontinent. The ensuing stability contributed to herald the golden age of Hindu culture in the 4th and 5th centuries AD. In the west, the Romans began expanding their territory through conquest and colonization from the beginning of the 5th century BC. By the reign of Augustus around the birth of Christ, Rome controlled all the lands surrounding the Mediterranean.

Military Annexation and Settlement Formation
The great empires rested on the ability to exploit the process of military annexation and the formation of settlements to become agricultural centers. The relative peace they brought encouraged international trade and notably the growth of the Silk Road. They also faced common problems such as those associated with maintaining huge armies and the support of the bureaucracy. These costs fell most heavily on the peasantry, whilst land-owning magnates were increasingly able to evade centralized control. The pressure of barbarians on the frontiers hastened the process of internal dissolution. The Han empire fell into civil war in 220 while its Roman counterpart became increasingly decentralized and divided around the same time.

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