UNIVERSAL EMPIRES

In the first two chapters, we discussed the growth, social and political
transformation of Civilizations in Eurasia. In the Third Chapter we considered the
emergence of ethical protest and reform ideologies as symptoms of a Crisis in
Civilization precipitated by processes of change. Universal empires, the subject of
this chapter, can be regarded as a form of response to the crisis of civilization.
The ideologies were reactions to crisis in the realm of values and ideas. While
universal empires resulted from action on the level of military power and political
organization.

The distinguishing feature of the universal empires was their scale, a scale made
possible by the processes of growth in the preceding period. Not only did the size
of the universal empires surpass that of earlier states; these vast entities were
universal in the sense that the political order was at least coterminous with an
entire civilized world or culture area. In the usage adopted here the term
universal empire will refer specifically to the great empires of the ancient period.

THE PERIOD
The period covered by this chapter is 539 B.C. to the beginning of the Christian
era. Within that time span to the beginning of the Christian era. Within that time
span the patterns will encompass three different universal empires, one in each
of the principal cultural areas of Asia. The Achaemenid empire in West Asia (ca.
550 to 530 B.C.), the Mauryan Empire in South Asia (321 183 B.C.) and the Chin
former Han empire in East Asia (221 B.C. 9 A.D.) And followed by the
persistence of universal empires of the Parthian and the Sasanids in West Asia;
the Gupta and the Kushan Empires of South Asia; and the Tang, Sung, and Sui
Empires in East Asia.
It should be noted that the corresponding example in the Western cultural area
would be the short-lived Macedonian conquest empire or the more enduring
Roman empire. Although Rome was the latest of these universal empires to
develop, and lay outside of Asia, it is the best known to the Western Reader and
may occasionally be cited to illustrate some of the processes.
THE FOUNDING OF UNIVERSAL EMPIRES
The formation of universal empires culminated and brought an end to a
prolonged period of military conflict.

a.) Shift of power to the Periphery
In the crisis of civilization, the old centers lost their ability to control the
outlying areas. A power vacuum in the center led to political instability,
fragmentation and a competition for the mastery that produced
widespread warfare and chaos. Under these conditions vigorous new
leadership came from the periphery of the old civilization. Men of the
marches semiacculturated and semibarbaric, sometimes seminomadic,
developed sufficient military power to challenge the old leadership. These
vigorous outsiders had partially absorbed the learning, technology, and
culture of the old civilizations but were not fully integrated into the social
order of the old polities. They were attracted by the wealth and
sophistication of old centers, while at the same time they were relatively
free to experiment with new forms of political and social organization
which might increase their power. As the crises of civilization proceeded,
rival military forces competed for dominance, and ambitious and gifted
commanders emerged who assembled new military machines and
conquered the old centers of civilization. The new conquerors benefitted in
this undertaking from some civilized institutions and practices already in
existence. These they adopted, modified, or rejected as their purposes
dedicated. Most important, the old centers constituted a precedent for
unity and order, and the charismatic hero who finally conquered the center
did so with the claim that he was restoring order, albeit in a new form.


b. Mobilization of Resources
The warfare that lead to the military unification of the culture area saw an
escalation in the scale of military operations. The massive new military
machines of the unifiers represented a new scale of organization that could
draw on larger areas, mobilize greater manpower and wealth and apply
more sophisticated technologies, than had been seen previously. In
Chapter 2 it was noted that the practice of agriculture became more
productive in terms of crop yield and manpower input and that the
diffusion of civilization brought about a great expansion of the cultivated
area. These processes in turn resulted in an immense increase in
population on the great alluvial plains of Mesopotamia, northern India and
north China. Trade increased, regional specialization in major commodities
and luxury goods demobilizing these resources provided the foundations of
political power on an unprecedented scale. Available manpower for the
armies and for public works, revenues of imperial governments, food, arms,
and equipment for war were necessary preconditions for the formation of
the universal empire.

c. Military Pacification
The military leader who was able to eliminate his rivals and control the
center was in the best position to establish a new political order. His task
was made easier by the claim that he was acting not for his own interest
but in order to restore peace and in some instances, to preserve the
heritage of old civilizations. This gave his conquest and aura of legitimacy
and made it easier for him to convert newly conquered opponents into
obedient subjects or even active supporters. But to restore order, he first
had to subdue all opposition. The attainment of peace was thus the result
of pacification, and the preservation of peace required the maintenance of
military superiority.




THE IMPERIAL ORDER

d. Emperorship
Since the new unifying were not themselves survivors, of the old ruling
families who had failed to maintain order, it was in their interest to adopt
titles and ceremonials different from those of the discredited old regimes.
Claiming to be the saviours of civilization, they took on new trappings, that
reflected the unprecedented scope of their claimed authority. Because
their rule spanned a number of kingdoms, they often took titles that
elevated them above ordinary rulers --- the distinction in English between
king and emperor.

e. Universal Imperialism
The universal empire was the product of a prolonged process of conquest
in which rival powers were eliminated and a new control was exerted over
the old centers of civilization. The peace keeping function that was central
to the purpose and justification of the new order was fulfilled by
continuous exercise of military power. Once internal enemies were
eliminated, the military might of the conquerors was turned outward for
expansion on a continental scale. Rutheless destruction was visited upon
competitors who challenged the new states authority. A notable example
for this process is the prolonged struggle between Rome and Carthage in
which Carthage was eventually obliterated. The consequence of universal
imperialism was to bring an entire culture area under the control of a single
political authority.

f. Closure of the Ecumene
As a result of the imperial expansion, virtually all of the civilized territory of
Eurasia came under the control of a few universal empires. The tendency
for these territorially acquisitive powers was to expand until they either ran
out of space (Han China reached the shoreline of the Pacific), encountered
obstacles (such as the Libyan desert or the Central Asian Steppe zone in the
case of the Achaemenids), or annexed more territory than they could
effectively administer (which happened with the Mauryas). One result of
this outward thrust was the closer of the Eurasian Ecumene. The empires
expanded until the frontiers of the major civilizations made contact with
each other. One effect of these process was to increase greatly the range
of contacts between civilizations. Diffusion of cultural influences was
facilitated, and trade expanded substantially. Trade routes through Central
Asia brought China into contact with South and West Asia and even Rome.
Eventually, Indian and Chinese influences met in Southeast Asia, where
their dual fertilization produced the amalgam character by the term
Indochina.

g. Bureaucracy
Management of these vast empires required the comprehensive
rationalization of the machinery of government. The principal impetus to
this administrative rationalization was, again the scale of the new state.
The size of the imperial armies and the extent of the territories to be
administered required that human and material resources be mobilized on
a scale far greater than had been the case in the past. Differentiation of
function thus went far beyond the rudimentary steps discussed in chapter
2. Politically, the rulers of empires had to find new agents who could
management government affairs and yet who were loyal to the rulers
interests and not tied too closely to revival interests, such as former ruling
elites, a religious authority, or local or regional interests. Organizationally,
this meant the formation of a governmental bureaucracy, through the
modification of pre-existing priestly or noble offices, and the codification or
standardization of regularized procedures for the management of
governmental affairs. Administratively, the formation of a bureaucracy was
accompanied by the division of the empire into provincial and other units,
colonies and garrisons, each wtih the specified political, economic, and
military functions.

h.) Communication systems
Essential to the creation and operation of the universal empire was the
improvement of communications and transportation. For military and
administrative purposes especially, great attention was paid to welding the
empire together with a communications network and particularly to tying
outlying areas to the decision-making center at the capital. The Roman
roads are perhaps the best known communications network of the pre-
Christian era, every empire had such facilities, including roads, canals,
fleets, ports, staging posts and messenger services. For the state, the
communications network made possible essential functions the
movement of troops, the transportation of supplies, the transmission of
messages. These functions could be performed only so long as travel was
made secure by the policing of waterways and highways. A supplementary
benefit of the imperial communications network was a growth in trade and
commercial activity, stimulated in part by the security of travel.

THE CULTURAL IMPACT OF UNIVERSAL EMPIRES

Administrative unification of the empire greatly facilitated intraregional
contact and cultural exchange. Over time there was a tendency for
common cultural forms to be diffused throughout the empire, often as a
result of state policy or of the influence of the imperial establishment. In
this way, the creation of the universal empires marked an important
turning point in the cultural history of the societies the administered.

The actions o the rulers of universal empires had important implications for
the fate of the old civilized cultures, particularly...