empire

the domain ruled by an emperor or empress

the region over which imperial dominion is exercised a group of countries under a single authority

"the British created a great empire" a monarchy with an emperor as head of state a group of diverse companies under common ownership and run as a single organization an eating apple that somewhat resembles a McIntosh

used as both an eating and a cooking apple

For alternative meanings, see Empire (disambiguation)''An empire (also known technically, abstractly or disparagingly as an imperium, and with powers known among Romans as "imperium") comprises a set of regions locally ruled by governors, viceroys or client monarchkings in the name of an emperor. By extension, one could classify as an empire any large, multi-ethnic state ruled from a single center. Like other states, an empire maintains its political structure at least partly by coercion. Land-based empires (such as Russia or Achaemenid dynastyAchaemenid IranPersia) tend to extend in a contiguous area; sea-borne empires, also known as ''thalassocracy thalassocracies'' (the Athenian empire Athenian and British Empire British empires provide examples), may feature looser structures and more scattered territories.Compare the concept of "empire" with that of a federation, where a large, multi-ethnic state — or even an ethnically homogeneous one like Australia or a small area like Switzerland — relies on mutual agreement amongst its component political units.Also, one can compare physical empires with potentially more abstract or less formally structured ''hegemony hegemonies,'' which add cultural influences to their power repertory within their sphere of influence spheres of influence, and also compare empires with superpowers. within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, from William R. Shepherd, ''Historical Atlas'', 1911: compare Nation state]]

Empires throughout history - The modern term "empire" derives from the Latin ''imperium'', a word coined in what became possibly the most famous example of this sort of political structure, the Roman Empire founded in 31 BC. The first empire, however, was the empire created by Sargon of AkkadSargon in Mesopotamia. For many centuries, the term "Empire" in the West applied exclusively to states which considered themselves to be successors to the Roman Empire, such as the Byzantine Empire, the Holy Roman Empire, or, later, the Russian Empire ruled from the "Third Rome" (Moscow). When the two Empires split (Eastern and Western); the Eastern was usurped by the Bulgarian (three times) and Serbian Tsarinates (empires). The Western fell, only to be inherited by the Frankish Empire of Charlemagne. Later, The Holy Roman Empire inherited western Imperialism. In 1204, when Constantinople fell, the western Crusaders created a Latin Empire in Constantinople, while the descendents of the Byzantine (Eastern) Empire went to Asia minor and split to two smaller empires: Niceia and Trebizond. The Byzantine Empire was reconstructed and the Trebizondine fell to the Ottomans. After Eastern Imperialism ended in 1453, it would not be until Peter the Great's crowning in newly constructed St. Petersburg as Czar of Russia that the Eastern Orthodox Imperialism would be rebuilt. The Western Empire was inherited by the Austrian Empire, later known as the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy which ceased to exist in 1918. There were two attempts by Napoleon I and Napoleon III to seize the Western Imperial claim for France. Western Imperialism would also be usurped in the period of 1878–1918 by the German Empire. Over time, other monarchies which viewed themselves as greater in size and power than mere kingdoms used the name or its translation. In 1056, King Ferdinand I of Leon, king also of Castile (peripheral principalities in Europe at the time) proclaimed himself "Emperor of Spain", beginning the ''Reconquista''. Bulgaria furnishes another example). Europeans came to apply the term "empire" to large non-European Monarchymonarchies, such as the Chinese EmpireEmpire of China or the Mughal EmpireMughul (or Mogul) Empire, and to extend it to past policies. The word eventually came to apply loosely to any entity meeting the criteria, whether kings governed or not, even whether a monarchy or not. In some cases synonyms of ''empire'' such as ''tsardom'', ''realm'' or ''reich'' occur.The actual political concept predates the Romans by several hundred years: empires began to appear soon after the first cities made the necessary administrative structures possible. The Akkadian Empire of Sargon of Akkad furnishes one of the earliest known examples.Empires can accrete around different types of state. They have traditionally originated as powerful Monarchymonarchies under the leadershiprule of a hereditary (or in some cases, self-appointed) emperor, but the so-called empires of Athens, Britain and the United States of AmericaUnited States developed under democracydemocratic auspices. Brazil leapt from colonial to self-declared empire status in 1822. France has twice made the transition from republic to empire.Historically, most empires came into being as the result of a militarily strong state conquering other states and incorporating them into a larger political union. Typically, a monarchy or an oligarchy rooted in the original core territory would continue to dominate this union. Many ancient empires maintained control of their subject peoples by controlling the supply of a vital resource, usually water; historians refer to such régimes as "hydraulic empires". The introduction of a common religion also often strengthened empires, as occurred (''pace'' Edward Gibbon) with the adoption of Christianity under Constantine I of the Roman Empire. And cultural influence played a large part in the survival of the Chinese empire and of its semi-imperial sphere of influence.An empire can mutate into some other form of polity. Thus the Bernese empire of conquest no longer appears so imperial, but its territories have become absorbed into the canton of Bern or become cantons or parts of cantons elsewhere in the SwitzerlandSwiss Confederation. The Holy Roman Empire, itself in a sense a re-constitution of the Roman Empire, underwent many transformations in its long history, fissuring extensively, experimenting with federalism and re-constituting itself as the Austrian Empire - vastly different in nature and in territory. The former second British Empire has spawned a loose multi-national Commonwealth of Nations, and the old French colonial empire has also left traces of its existence in cultural networks and associations. The Soviet Empire leaves behind it the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).An Emperor-based empire can readily become (say) a republic by means of a coup (Brazil, 1889; Central African Empire, 1979); or it can become a republic with its dominions reduced to a core territory (Germany (1918–1919), Ottoman Empire (1918–1923)). The breakup of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in 1918 provides an example of a multi-ethnic superstate fissuring into multiple constituent or new parts: the republics, kingdoms or provinces of Austria, Hungary, Transylvania, Croatia, Slovenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Czechoslovakia, Ruthenia, Galicia (Central Europe)Galicia…The world's largest contiguous land empire was the Mongol Empire, created by Genghis Khan in 1206. It encompassed huge portion of Eurasia under Mongol rule. The Mongol Empire was governed by specific written code by Genghis Khan called Yasa. The Mongol Empire was governed by kurultai, and there was freedom of religion, tax exemption and extensive trade routes that were nurtured by the Khan. For example, the Mongol Empire provided political stability to the Silk Road. Other famous empires include the Persian empire. The Persians had numerous great empires, and are not usually known for a particular one, both pre and post islamic Persia had powerful empires. The Macedonians had one great empire, led by Alexander the Great.

Imperialism - The discovery of the New World provided an opportunity for many European states to embark upon programs of imperialism on a different model, colonycolonization. Under this model (previously trialled in the Old World in the Canary Islands and in Ireland), subject states became ''de jure'' subordinate to the imperial state, rather than ''de facto'' as in earlier empires. This led to a good deal of resentment in the client states, and therefore probably to the demise of this system by the early- to mid-twentieth century.The heyday of imperialism, the 19th century, coincided with a boom in the setting up of empires: from Haiti, France and Austria through Mexico to India and Germany. In contrast, the 20th century saw many empires demolished or dismembered: for example those of Russia, Austria-Hungary, Germany, Italy, France, Britain and the Central African Empire.One might describe one problem with the European imperial model as gerrymandering. In the interest of expediency, an imperial power tended to carve out a client state based solely on convenience of geography, while ignoring extreme cultural differences in the resulting area. An example of the attendant problems occurred in the Indian sub-continent. Formerly part of the British Empire, when the sub-continent gained its independence it split along cultural/religious lines producing modern India and the two-part country of Pakistan, which later split yet again resulting in the independence of Bangladesh.

Overt ideologies of empire - Naked aggression and sadistic greed, no more than theoretical imperialism, provide little in the way of comforting justifications for the growth and continuation of empires. Geopolitics Geopolitical strategy does not always arouse popular enthusiasm. But more high-minded goals can help in building imperialistic solidarity, perceived in terms such as:

CultureCultural superiority

Exportation of revolution (violence) away from the homeland

NationalismNational self-determination

racismRacial superiority

Spreading the benefits of civilization

Modern "empires" - The concept of "empire" in the modern world, while still present politically, has begun to lose cohesion semantically. The only remaining country nominally ruled by an Emperor, Japan, comprises a constitutional monarchy with a population of approximately 99% ethnic Japanese. Just as monarchymonarchies (as opposed to constitutional monarchies) have largely fallen out of favour in modern times, the term "empire" itself may now become somewhat of an anachronism.The former Soviet Union had many of the criteria of an empire, but nevertheless did not claim to be one, nor was it ruled by a traditional hereditary "emperor" (see Soviet Empire). Nevertheless, historians still occasionally classify it as an empire, if only because of its similarities to empires of the past and its sway over a large multi-ethnic bloc of Eurasia. Most modern multi-ethnic states see themselves as voluntary federations (Switzerland, for example, or Belgium) or as unions (United Kingdom, Spain), and not as empires. Most have democratic structures, and operate under systems which share power (sociology)power through multiple levels of government that differentiate between areas of federal and provincial/state jurisdiction. Where separatist groups exist, internal and external observers may disagree on whether state action against them represents legitimate law enforcementlaw-enforcement against a violent or non-violent fringe group, or state violence to control a broadly unwilling population. A list of multi-ethnic states with ongoing violence by and against separatists might swamp this article, although China, Russia, Indonesia and India distinguish themselves by sheer size.The United StatesUnited States of America, widely categorized as a federation, offers another example. The North used coercion to keep the Union together during the American Civil War, which made this characterization more ambiguous in the minds of many. In the aftermath of the Cold War, the United States has emerged as an unrivaled superpower, and although the country has not engaged in formal territorial expansion since the acquisitions of Hawaii, of the Philippines and of the U.S. Virgin Islands Virgin Islands, many suggest its powerful military and economic influences allow it to exert a sort of informal New Imperialismneo-imperial hegemony on much of the modern world (see American Empire, corporate colonialism).

Historical empires (with approximate dates) -

History of EthiopiaAbyssinian Empire (—1974)

Achaemenid Empire (commonly known as the Persian Empire) (c. 550–330 BC)

Akkadian Empire (c. 2350–2150 BC — the first historical empire ever)

Arabian Empire (c. 630–1258)

Assyrian Empire (c. 900–612 BC)

Athenian empireAthenian Empire

Austria-HungaryAustro-Hungarian Empire (1867–1918)

Austrian Empire (1804–1867)

Axis Powers (1936–1945)

*Greater East Asia Co-prosperity Sphere (1940–1945)

*Third ReichThird German Reich (1933–1945)

AztecAztec Empire (1375–1521)

BelgiumBelgian Empire (1865–1962)

Brazilian Empire (1822–1889)

British Empire (c. 1583— refBE ) ''De jure''refBE1960

*British Raj (1858–1947) (Imperial: 1877–1947)

History of BulgariaBulgarian Empire (681–1018; 1185–1396)

Byzantine Empire (395–1453)

Central African Empire (1977–1979)

History of ChinaChinese Empire (221 BC–1912)

Danish colonial empire

Dutch colonial empire

Egyptian Empire (1550–1070 BC)

Elamite Empire

French Empire

*First French Empire (1804–1815)

*Second French Empire (1853–1871)

*French colonial empire (c. 1605 –1960s )

German Empire (1871–1918)

*German colonial empire (1884–1918)

Ghana Empire

Ghaznavid Empire

Golden Horde (1378–1502)

Gupta Empire

History of HaitiHaitian Empire (1804–1806)

Hittite Empire (c. 1460–1180 BC)

Holy Roman Empire (843–1806)

TahuantinsuyuInca Empire (1438–1533)

Italian Colonial Empire

Ilkhanate (c. 1256–1338)

Japanese Empire

Khmer Empire (802–1462)

KongoKongo Empire

Korean Empire (1897–1910)

MacedonMacedonian Empire (c. 338 BC–309 BC)

Magadhan Empire

Majapahit Empire

Mali Empire

Malinké Empire

Maratha Empire (1674–1761)

Mauryan Empire

Mexican Empire (1822–1823, 1864–1867)

Mogul Empire (1526–1857)

Mongol Empire (1206–1394)

Old Babylonian Empire (c. 1900–1600 BC)

Ottoman Empire (1281–1923)

Persian Empire

Portuguese Empire (1495–1975)

Roman Empire (27 BC–476 AD)

Imperial RussiaRussian Empire (1721–1917)

Sassanian Empire (224–651)

Serbian Empire (1345–1371)

Seleucid Empire (323 BC–60 BC)

Seljuk Empire (c. 1037–1194)

Songhai Empire

Spanish Empire (1492–1975)

Swedish Empire (1561–1878)

*Swedish colonial empire

TeotihuacanTeotihuacano Empire

Timurid Empire (1401–1505)

Tu'i Tonga Empire(950–1875?)

Ur III Empire (c. 2100–2000 BC)

Republic of Venice Venetian Empire (c. 900–1797)

History of VietnamVietnamese Empire (1802–1883)

Vijayanagara Empire (c. 1350–1700)

Notes - #noteBE The United Kingdom still has some overseas territories. The British monarch, Queen Elizabeth II of the United KingdomElizabeth II can be described as head of state of the United Kingdom. She is also monarch of the other Commonwealth Realms, the constitutional role of the monarchy is identical, to that of the United Kingdom, but the historical and cultural significance may differ. Queen Elizabeth is also head of the Commonwealthhead of Commonwealth of NationsThe Commonwealth; this title, however, does not imply any political power over member nations, and is a none hereditary title.#noteBE1960 ''De facto'', The British Empire ended in the 1960s

See also -

List of extinct countries, empires, etc.

Trade bloc

External links -

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Ancient Coin Club of Los Angeles
Founded in 1966, ACCLA offers a lively series of monthly programs featuring presentations on ancient coins, history and culture. Guests are always welcome.
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Numismat
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