Ages

of
Empires
 Timeline
• Ancient Times 3000 B.C.E.- 700 B.C.E.
700 B.C.E.- 500 C.E.
• Classical Times 500 C.E.- 1500 C.E.
• Medieval Times 1500 C.E.- 1763 C.E.
• The Rise of the West 1763 C.E.- 1914 C.E.
• Imperialism 1914 C.E.- 1945 C.E.
• The World Wars 1945 C.E.- 1991 C.E.
• The Great Division 1991 C.E.- ?
• A New Era
 Our Concentration
• A World excluding America, Sub-
Sahara Africa, Oceania and the
Antarctic
• Two periods: the Classical and
Medieval Ages
• The rise and fall of GREAT empires
• The relationships between the
empires
 The Ancient Times
In the Ancient Times, the earliest
civilizations appeared. Middle East
(Mesopotamia), Egypt, Indus Valley,
Crete and China were the centers of
Ancient civilization.
During this period, there rose several
empires: Egyptian Empire, Akkadian
Empire, Hittites Empire, Assyrian
Empire, Babylonia and Shang Empire.
 In Quiet Corners
• Shang Dynasty and Zhou Dynasty China
lay quietly on the east end of Eurasia, in
the shelter of Himalayan Mountains.
• Indus Valley, also quietly, hid itself behind
the mountains.
• Egypt, although very near to Mesopotamia,
kept quietly and alone for a long time.
• Only Mesopotamia and Asia Minor are not
quiet at all.
 Sargon I

He was a Semite. He was

not native to Sumeria.
Though a typical
Sumer city state
should be like Ur,
Akkad and Akkadian
Empire pushed
Mesopotamia to the
middle of an arena of
great opponents.
 The Classical Times
It is a period with which we are quite
familiar. It features the great Greco-
Roman civilization, the flash of the first
world-empire Persia, the rise of an
imperial China and the heyday of
classical Indian civilization.
This period includes 2 phases: the
Hellenistic Period and Rome-Han
Imperial Period.
 Hellenistic
Crete had been a great cultural centre of the
Mediterranean. However, it was replaced
by the Mycenaean, which was what
Homer described to us. This did not last
long. Mycenaean cities were taken by the
Dorian. After that, the classical Hellas,
with Athens as its representative came
into the World. This is the age of great
philosophers, artists and historians.
 Achaemenian Persia
The Greeks might be the most significant
people at that time. But it was the Persians
that opened the history of vast empires.
From Cyrus the Great to Darius I, from the
Indus to Anatolia, from Caucasus to the
Nile, Persia was the mightiest.
Moreover, Cyrus proved how a military
ruler could be admired and Darius offered
an example for how to run a vast empire
 Alexander the Great
Darius I and his son were great, but they
never managed to conquer Greece. Greece
survived and thrived, but after the
destructive Peloponnesian War, Greek
world suffered a depression. Alexander
re-conquered Greece and proceeded to
Asia and Egypt. His empire included the
whole Persian empire. It collapsed
immediately after his death, anyway, he
brought the world under Greek influence.
 A China in Wars
Spring-Autumn Period and Warring States
Period have long been legendary in
Chinese psyche. The country showed a
rare tolerance for all kinds of thoughts.
Besides, the expansions of the powerful
states in these periods, for one thing
connected the nations culturally, for
another, stretched Chinese borders to
deserts, to mountains and to the seas,
rather than be limited to the Yellow River.
 Models for Empires
The 2nd phase of the Classical Age was
absolutely fascinating.
For the first time in history, the
Mediterranean became a lake within an
empire. For the first time in history,
Chinese influence was felt in Middle Asia.
How the majority of Chinese people gained
the name for their nationality? From the
Han Dynasty.
 Roma
1. The Kingdom of Rome 753-534 B.C.E.
2. Roman Republic 509-43 B.C.E.
3. Roman Empire 44 B.C.E.- 493 C.E.
IV. The Julio-Claudians 40 B.C.E.- 68 C.E.
V. The Flavians 69-81 C.E.
VI. The Good Emperors 96-192 C.E.
VII. The Severans 193-222 C.E.
VIII.The Barracks Emperors 235-493 C.E.
Pax Romana
1.Nerva
2.Trajan
3.Hadrian
4.Antonius
Pius
5.Marcus
Aurelius
 The Best India
The Indus Valley is relatively separated,
although not as much as China. The
Indians suffered the invasion of Aryans,
but absorbed them. Alexander the Great
went there, too. As an intellectual and the
pupil of Aristotle, he left the ancient
country untouched.
Unlike China, India had always been
fragments of states. However, the Maurya,
Kushana and Gupta kings proved that it
was not always true.
 Riots!– the Last Days
The remarkable movements of nomadic
tribes left the empires in miserable
situations. The last days of the Classical
Times were filled with ruthless killings.
Empires broken and even erased, only the
barbarians were merry and proud.
China saw the decline of Han Dynasty and a
long disorder. But the west saw dramatic
legends, i.e. Attila and the Huns.
 The Medieval Times
The civilized world saw the beginning of
this period with great shock and pain.
The nomadic invasions crashed all the
great civilized empires, leaving the
Eurasian continent in fragile.
However, China and Eastern Roman
Empire survived and an Islamic Empire
emerged. On the other hand, Europe was
in darkness. But in this darkness, would
rise the sunrays of Renaissance.
 The Great Tang
When the Chinese talk about the Tang
Dynasty, you feel an overwhelming pride.
Perhaps Xianbei in origins, the Tang
emperors made China the admire of the
world. Literature and art symbolized the
prosperity of the empire.
Foreigners came and went, worshipping the
country’s riches, as if it would be so
forever.
 Umayyads and Abbasids
Mohammed might never dreamed of
creating an empire reaching as far as
Spain in the west, China in the east, the
Caspian Sea in the north and, of course,
the south end of Arabia. But, that did
happen.
Umayyads’ continuously conquests spread
Islam all over the world (defeating China
to gain Middle Asia). Abbasids made the
caliphate supreme.
Harun al-
Rashid, the
Caliph of
Arabian
Nights
Father of
al-Ma’mun
 Byzantine or Roman?
There has long been a dispute on the name
of that special empire: was it still a Roman
empire or a totally new Byzantine empire?
The Byzantines recognized themselves as
Romans but since the reign of Emperor
Heraclius, they are gradually considered
more Greek than Roman.
Eastern Roman Empire, for better or worse,
lasted another 1000 years.
 Frankish Empires
The Frankish Empires, to be more specific,
the Charlemagne Empire and the
following Holy Roman Empire, were
almost not worth mentioning, compared
to the eastern glamour.
They did have their significance. The
empire, brought the Dark Age to an end
and laid the foundation for most modern
European nations, France, Germany and
Italy.
 Mongol Conquest
Nomads were impressive conquerors, more
than Julius Caesar, more than William the
Conqueror. How could they compare!
Genghis Khan and his sons and grandsons
swept Eurasia thoroughly. They took
every piece of land as far as they set foot
to. The Mongols defeated all, held 4
Khanates and changed the world.
On May 29th, 1453, Constantinople, the
eternal city, fell to the Turks after a fierce
besiege. The last, but not the worst
emperor, Constantine XVII fought to his
death.
This event marked the end of Medieval Age
and the end of classical civilizations.
Although China, Mogul Empire and
Ottoman Empire even prospered after that,
the glory of the ancient civilizations was
never to be restored. Soon, the 3 remaining
empires were brought to indignity by the
new, mighty West.
 World After 1500 C.E.
As it has been mentioned, the classical
world lost power in this period. Sultan
Suleyman the magnificent, Taj Mahal
and the Great Voyages of Zhenghe
served as Grand Finales respectively.
Thus, ended the old world and began a
new one. Great discoveries and the new
European powers were the theme of the
new world.