Empires: Perspectives from Archaeology and History

by Susan E. Alcock, Terence N. D'Altroy, Kathleen D. Morrison, Carla M. Sinopoli

Overview

Empires were the largest political systems of the ancient and early modern world. Empires have "risen" and "fallen" in all parts of the globe over several millennia, yet there has been surprisingly little comparative analysis of them. This book is designed to fill that gap by bringing together distinguished scholars in anthropology, archaeology, history, and the classics. The empires discussed are drawn from Central and South America, the Mediterranean, Europe, the Near East, South East Asia, and China, ranging from the first millennium BC to the early modern era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521112345
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	06/04/2009
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	548
Product dimensions:	7.50(w) x 9.70(h) x 1.30(d)

Table of Contents

Preface Carla M. Sinopoli and Terence N. D'Altroy; Part I. Sources, Approaches, Definitions Kathleen D. Morrison: 1. The shadow empires: imperial state formation along the Chinese-Nomad frontier Thomas J. Barfield; 2. Written on water: designs and dynamics in the Portuguese Estado de India Sanjay Subrahmanyam; 3. The Wari empire of Middle Horizon Peru: the epistemological challenge of documenting an empire without documentary evidence Katharina Schreiber; 4. The Achaemenid Persian empire (c. 550–c. 330 BCE): continuities, adaptations, transformations Amelie Kuhrt; Part II. Empires in a Wider World Terence N. D'Altroy: 5. The Aztec Empire and the Meso-American world system Michael E. Smith; 6. On the edge of empire: form and substance in the Satavahana dynasty Carla M. Sinopoli; 7. Dynamics of imperial adjustment in Spanish America: ideology and social integration Kathleen Deagan; Part III. Imperial Integration and Imperial Subjects Carla M. Sinopoli: 8. Politics, resources, and blood in the Inka Empire Terence N. D'Altroy; 9. Egypt and Nubia Robert Morkot; 10. Coercion, resistance, and hierarchy: local processes and imperial strategies in the Vijayanagara Empire Kathleen D. Morrison; Part IV. Imperial Ideologies Susan E. Alcock and Kathleen D. Morrison: 11. Aztec hearts and minds: religion and the state in the Aztec empire Elizabeth M. Brumfiel; 12. Inventing empire in ancient Rome Greg Woolf; 13. The reconfiguration of memory in the eastern Roman empire Susan E. Alcock; 14. Cosmos, central authority, and communities in the early Chinese empire Robin Yates; Part V. The Afterlife of Empires Susan E. Alcock: 15. The fall of the Assyrian empire: ancient and modern interpretations Mario Liverani; 16. The Carolingian empire: Rome reborn? John Moreland; 17. Cuzco, another Rome? Sabine MacCormack.