ABSTRACT
This chapter explores the dynamics of the two relevant political systems, and how their vicissitudes contributed to the process of slow collapse. There is a great deal of scholarship on traditional historical aspects for Rome that are best described as political-military. One general similarity between the Classic Maya and the Roman Empire is instability in the succession to rule, which caused too much competition and internecine combat. The Classic Maya were divided into polities of various sizes, with excessive competition between the rulers and elites, producing too much warfare. There are also hints of problems of succession and disaffection between rulers and ruled among the Maya. The political and military facets of the Roman Empire have long been a topic of interest among both the Romans themselves and later European scholars. The political actors had had their day – and their errors and lack of foresight had contributed to the collapse of their respective civilizations.
