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A recipe for everlasting empires?
Posted by Arashmania • 4/20/09 • Subscribe to this Discussion [RSS] • Report This Topic
Topics: ancient roman politics and corruption, downfall of roman empire, how can empires survive, lawlessness and faith influencing politics and power, romans and reasons for their collapse, the role of senate in ancient rome, what makes an empire successful
What do you believe would be the perfect ingredients for a long-lasting empire? Can the US withhold other pressures to remain a superpower for another say fifty years? If not, who can fill those shoes and why?
I wrote about what I believe brought down one of the most outstanding empires in history, the Romans. But I think it could really apply to any empire whatsoever.
arashworld.blogspot.com/2009/04/why-empires-crumble-downfall-of-rome.html
User Comments
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Pretty good post. The 'Christians brought down the Roman Empire' is something of an innovation.
As for your question: Egypt is a decent example of a stable "empire." Ancient Egypt, a union of an upper Nile and a lower Nile state, lasted for roughly three millennia, with a couple breaks lasting a century or two.
My opinion is that Egypt lasted so long because it was on a trans-continental trade route - several, if oceanic trade is factored in.
Desert on the east and - particularly - the west made large scale military assaults on Egypt a daunting prospect.
On top of that, Egypt was generally managed by a merit-based bureaucracy. The account of Joseph is a case in point, showing how someone with ability could rise withing the system.
An entity like that: geographically protected; run by capable officials; where potential trouble-makers were absorbed into the system if they were competent enough to cause trouble; might be around today, if the Greek Pharaohs hadn't been followed by intense contact with the Roman Empire.
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