ABSTRACT
To begin with, a definition of the term empire is proposed, and it is suggested that the creation of long-term, viable empires required the prior attainment of a certain degree of civilization in the imperial region. Four significant factors are put forward as important, if not always absolutely necessary, prerequisites for the creation of empires. A historical summary of ancient empires in Asia follows, concentrating on the period from roughly 600 b.c.e. to 600 c.e., beginning with the observation that Asia is made up of four geographically, politically, and culturally distinct regions which need to be discussed separately. It is argued that western Asia, being closely linked to Europe and Africa, is the most important of the four regions in terms of its impact on wider world developments, as well as being the region with the most extensive and interesting development of empires. The other three regions—India, China, and northern Asia—were more isolated from the rest of the world and, with the important exception of China, did not develop important and long-lasting empires; these regions are therefore discussed more summarily. It is concluded that, though obviously exploitative, the universalist empires developed in western Asia particularly—the Persian Empire of c. 550 to 330 b.c.e. being the most influential model—provided long periods of peaceful, harmonious, and reasonably just rule to wide regions, thereby helping to create conditions fruitful for the advancement of civilization.
