Today’s Warm Up Answer in your notes: What do you visualize when you think of an “empire”? Turn in your homework! – Early Writing Analysis

Dawn of the Empires Period 2 c. 600 B.C.E. to c. 600 C.E.

Periodization c. 600 B.C.E. to c. 600 C.E. Why are these dates clumped together? –Development, codification, & spread of major world religions –Rise and fall of the world’s earliest empires –Emergence of transregional networks of communication and trade

Defining “Empire” Simply put, the conquest of one people by another Usually larger, more aggressive (but not always) states – those that conquer, rule, and extract resources from others

Imperial Features Effective administration –Legal System –Communication –Transportation –Monetary System Cultural diffusion – many different peoples under single, centralized rule

Two Forms of Imperial Rule Hegemony: Subjects willingly accept dominance because they stand to benefit Dominance: Rule imposed by military force… Resistance common Which do you think imperial powers preferred and why? Which do you think was more common?

Common Problems Treatment of the conquered? Direct rule? How do we extract wealth from the conquered while maintaining order? Every empire eventually failed…

Fall of Empires Poor leadership Overextension of administration Economic collapse Doubts over the ideology Military defeat

The Earliest Empires: Mesopotamia & the Fertile Crescent C BCE Started as independent city- states constantly warring Sargon eventually defeated and unified these city- states and created Akkadian Empire

Waves of Invaders Babylonians  Hittites  Assyrians

Timeline Activity: The First Empires! Create a timeline outlining the rise and fall of the world’s first empires: –Akkadian –Babylonian –Hittites –Assyrians –Egypt May be completed electronically but not required

Requirements For each empire, include the following: Important dates, leaders, etc. Preconditions for the empire’s rise (i.e. rivalries, lack of unity, adequate military resources, etc.) Method of Domination – hegemony or dominance? Major rewards of imperialism (i.e. economic rewards) Reason for the empires fall

The BIG Idea… Think, Ink, Share Define “empire” and briefly describe the chief characteristics generally shared by empires. Choose one of the early empires we discussed today and indicate the degree to which it shares the characteristics you noted.

Homework Finish your timelines and stay on top of your reading! We’re now on Chapter 5… Study for your quiz covering Period 1: Foundations –Block 2A: Tuesday, 9/17 –Block 2B: Wednesday, 9/18