The Conrad Demarest Model of Empire: Basic Principles
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I.? Necessary preconditions for the rise of empires:
state-level government
Rome:? republic
Han:? kept most of Qin centralized government in place
high agricultural potential in the area
Rome:? wheat, grapes, cattle
Han:? wheat, millet, pigs
an environmental mosaic
Rome:? Alps, Mediterranean Sea, forests, Tiber and other rivers, hills
Han: Tianshan mountains, Yellow and Yangtze river, loess soil, Pacific Ocean
several small states with no clearly dominant state (power vacuum)
Rome and other city-states on Italian peninsula; surrounding states in Mediterranean (Greek states, Egypt, Judea, Syria, Cyprus, Gaul, Romania, Spain, Sicily, Sardinia, Carthage, etc.
Han:? Qin empire broken into smaller states