State and Empire

In the start of "State and Empire" the readers are posed with a question that asks "Is the United States the new Roman Empire?" An empire is simply a state, a political system that exercises coercive power. Before the chapter truly begins we are introduced to the second-wave era of the Eurasian Empire. 

The first empires and civilizations to be addressed are the Persian and Greeks. The Persian empire began in 500 B.C.E and was the largest and most impressive out of all the World's empires. The Persians centered around an elaborate cult of kinship and had many distinctive ways. Their empire was more than conquest and royal decree. Something that made the Persian Empire standout was their development of satraps. Satraps were the eyes and ears of the king and and gave lower level officials the opportunity to be the imperial spies to the king. The Persian empire loved luxury and instantly made it their own. 

The next empire was that of the Greeks. The Greeks began around 750 B.C.E and had a very different empire to the Persians. Their first difference was their size, just a fraction of the sized of the Persian empire. Another difference was its geographical makeup. The Greek empire certainly didn't take care of their land by smelting metals causing deforestation and soil erosion. One defining creation by the Greeks were their elaborate Olympic Games where every four years the suspended continual conflicts to participate. One last difference between the Greeks and Persians was the Greeks participation in political life. The Greeks created an idea of citizenship which created equality for most people. Under Greek civilization debt slavery was abolished, access to public office was opened to a wider group -of men and all citizens were allowed to participate in the assembly. 

The defeat of the Persian empire was surprisingly thanks to the Greeks who held them off and defeated them even with their small size.  The Greeks were then later takeover by the Macedonian and even accomplished the political unification of Greece. After the Macedonian take over, another expedition on Persia was in plan. After the leader died and with no return to Greece, the empire was split into three. 

The next two empires held compared were the Roman and Chinese. Rome started off as a small worn city-state and then flourished into an enormous imperial state. In the start of the Roman Empire, Romans took off the monarchy and established a republic. This new republic made wealthy men dominate. Due to this inequality, change to the political life happened. The Romans created laws for the lower people and with that political system, they launched their empire. 

Next was the Chinese. The Chinese did not want to create something new, they wanted to fix something old. With a bureaucracy, the state gave its army iron weapons and enjoyed a growing population and rising agriculture. The Chinese empire was no less brutal or dependent on military than the others but was still different in their rise. The Chinese empire recruited many people to help with the building of the Great Wall of China to keep out barbarians. China was a transition from a republic to a empire. 

Once the Chinese and Roman empires were both developed you could see their differences and similarities. Both defined themselves in universal terms, both were invested public works, and both invoked supernatural sanctions to support their rule. In their development both took to religious views. The Roman Empire went with Christianity and the Chinese empire went with Buddhism. Sadly all empires come to an end. Rome had their end in 476 c.e and China in 220 c.e.

Lastly, the book addresses the small impact the second-wave civilizations had on India. The Indus Valley  flourished when the first civilizations came around but India was impacted minimally during the second-wave. Due to the minimal impact, researchers ask many questions towards the civilization and population of past civilization. "Did the Aryans invade suddenly, or did they migrate slowly into the Indus River Valley. Politically, that civilization emerged fragmented and mixed rule in many regional states. The Persians and the Greeks had major influence on India. One good thing India had was its ruler Ashoka who left a record of his activities and his thinking. Ashoka wanted to govern in terms of religious values and moral teachings but despite his good intentions the empire still fell. "Clearly, the absence of consistent imperial unity did not prevent the evolution of a lasting civilization.