HUMA 1770 Lecture 2: Lecture 2 - Sept 19.docx

• School: York University
• Department: Humanities
• Course: HUMA 1770
• Professor: Leo Stan

Document Summary

Imperium (latin): command, sovereignty, dominion: not a form of government and not dependent on size, greece initially a democracy became an empire, size is not a requirement initially i. e. british empire, military conquest, those societies that can afford to become empires have strong empires, rich in money and/or rich in food, this is true to pay the army (soldiers and leaders, empires were not genocidal. Sometimes they managed to dominate in less violent ways; more efficient i. e. alexander the great annihilated persian empire with 50 something soldier: sophisticated administrative systems, complex bureaucracy, acquire certain civilization stage, can take a long time, strong defense, rebels (those you overthrew) may return, guerilla warfare, protect the borders. Possible origins: a) leadership and genius of one individual; b) complex development over a long period of time; of empires due to: Internal failure: environmental disasters, national catastrophes (earthquakes and droughts) i.