ANTH 324(S) Empires of Antiquity
Cycles of rise and collapse of civilizations are common in our human past.
Among the most fascinating cases are those of empires, conquest civilizations,
or states that encompass a number of different ethnicities, politics and peoples.
However, their rise and often rapid collapse begs an important question: how
stable have empires been in human prehistory? Are they intrinsically unstable
political forms? The course will address these questions by examining the major
empires of the Old and New World in pre-modern history; Akkadian; Babylonian; Persian; Assyrian; Mongol; Roman; Chinese; Ottoman; Aztec; and Inca
empires. Using readings by political scientists, historians, epigraphers, archaeologists and political anthropologists, we will consider the cause of the expansion
and collapse of these empires, their sociopolitical and economic structures as
mechanisms for their maintenance to provide a cross-cultural comparison of the
differential success and final decline of all these empires.
Format: lecture/discussion. Requirements: several short response papers and a
longer research paper.
No prerequisites. Expected enrollment: 20.