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Rome
Politics of Difference
In Ancient Rome, the endeavors at recognizing the needs of ethnic and social minorities were rather few. As a result, several minorities were severely ostracized, such as the Jewish community. Arguably, the exclusive politics of Rome contributed to its rapid downfall. Promoting cultural conformity, Ancient Rome could not consider the idea of equity in its politics.
Causes of Imperial Decline
Ancient Rome fell incredibly fast due to several factors, the most evident one being the invasion of barbarians. However, considering the existing historical records, one will realize that Roman troops could have been used to overcome the invasion if it had been the only problem. Instead, the economic crisis caused by overspending and taxation led to the crumbling of the empire.
Taxation Policies
The tax issues were among the most controversial in Ancient Rome. Being one of the factors that would lead to the demise of the empire, taxes were huge and nearly impossible to manage for an average citizen. The farming tax was particularly egregious due to its size and the pressure that is put on farmers.
Military Policies
Easily regulated and organized in legions, the Ancient Roman military was quite efficient as a force for protecting the state. The troops served the purpose of expanding the power of Ancient Rome and annexing new territories. Therefore, the Ancient Roman army combined the peaceful mentality of protecting the land from invaders and the notion of the conquest of other states.
Self-Perception and Worldview
The concept of the Roman identity in Ancient Rome has been termed Romanitas by modern scholars and embodied the notions of rigid social hierarchy. In turn, the worldview of Ancient Romanians seemed to segregate humankind into the civilized and uncivilized, or barbaric, people (Parsons 18). The specified divide would result in the Roman citizens overrating their self-importance and diminishing the threat that barbaric tribes posed, thus allowing the latter to infiltrate the state and take over it.
Byzantium
Politics of Difference
Similar to Ancient Rome, the Jewish community was heavily ostracized in Byzantium. The described attitude was not the only aspect of the politics of difference promoted in Byzantium, yet it was the most prominent one. Among others, the class division could be mentioned as the core of the politics of difference.
Causes of Imperial Decline
The wrong military choices, namely, the decision to partake in the Arab Wars, were the main reason for the empire to collapse. In addition, the weak military can be considered as the factor leading to the destruction of the state. Finally, the poor political choices and the absence of a clear foreign policy led to the destruction of the empire.
Taxation Policies
The Byzantine Empire had one of the most robust economies of all states, yet the taxation system of Byzantine was rather intricate and even convoluted. Apart from the flat tax that all citizens had to pay, there was a special farming tax that had to be calculated based on the area of land that farmers possessed.
Military Policies
The Byzantine army formed to protect the state from invaders was formed after the example of the Roman army, which is why it borrowed most of its advantages and disadvantages. The Byzantine army was one of the most powerful militaries in the world and was divided into five troop types.
Self-Perception and Worldview
The Byzantine worldview was mostly Hellenistic, namely, following the aesthetic standards of Ancient Greece. In addition, the culture of the Byzantine Empire resided on the principle of taxis, which implied a clear social hierarchy. The focus on intellectual activities created premises for the Byzantine Empire to flourish.
Arab Khalifates
Politics of Difference
With the principles of Islam being proclaimed as the only right philosophies to live by and abide by, the citizens and authorities of Arab Khalifates discriminated against non-Muslim people severely. The representatives of other faiths were mostly treated as second-class citizens.
Causes of Imperial Decline
Similar to the Roman Empire, the Arab Khalifates could not withstand the power of the brutal outside force and yielded to the attacks of Mongolians. Thus, the lack of a proper military and a strategy for shielding themselves against sudden attacks were the main factors in the Arab Khalifates’ defeat.
Taxation Policies
The Arab Khalifates’ taxation system was based on zakat as the foundational concept of Islam and the basis for taxing every citizen for 2.5% of their earnings to address the needs of the poor.
Military Policies
Arab Khalifates were geared toward conquests, with most of their military being trained accordingly. The Rashidun army was one of the main units that served the purpose of gaining new locations. Overall, rigid hierarchy and compliance with the established military standards were the foundational concepts of serving in the Khalifate army.
Self-Perception and Worldview
Guided by the principles of Islam, the Arab Khalifates viewed themselves as the true believers and those being on the right side of history, whereas others were deemed as infidels. As a result, the worldview of the residents of Arab Khalifates was restricted to the philosophy of the Muslim religion, which would, later on, define wars with representatives of other religions.
Mongol Empire
Politics of Difference
During the rise of the Mongol Empire, discrimination against the people that did not belong to the Mongol ethnicity. The documented ethnic riots in the Mongol empire indicate that the vast majority of the population treated the specified group as outcasts.
Causes of Imperial Decline
Since the Mongol empire thrived on its continuous expansion and the annexation of other territories, the death of their leader in these annexations, Kublai Khan, marked the beginning of the empire’s decline. Moreover, with his death, the gradual corruption of the population began.
Taxation Policies
The Mongolian Empire was known for its elaborate taxation system that is imposed on the peasants of the annexed parts of China. It was assumed that the enhancement of the farming economy in China would allow increasing taxes and, thus, encourage the economic growth of the Mongolian Empire.
Military Policies
Drive by the need to conquer other states, Mongols built their military policy on the principles of forced annexation of the adjacent lands. Arranged in four types of units, the Mongolian army reached an enormous size, which made their conquests fast and efficient.
Self-Perception and Worldview
The residents of the Mongol Empire saw themselves mostly as conquerors. However, as the sedentary culture became ubiquitous in the Mongolian empire, the specified self-perception began to crumble, eventually causing the empire to lose its strength (Parsons 69).
Imperial China
Politics of Difference
Imperial China was quite notorious for its racism, which defined further attitudes toward minorities. Therefore, the politics of difference was based on race in Imperial China, with the members of the minority groups being viewed as second-class citizens.
Causes of Imperial Decline
Poor relationships with western countries, as well as a host of internal problems, such as poor harvest, wars, economic concerns, overpopulation, riots among Chinese citizens, and the rise in western imperialism, led to the destruction of the Chinese Empire. In hindsight, it was a combination of social issues, including the racism problem, and the natural disaster, specifically, the absence of proper farming conditions, that drove the Chinese Empire to its demise.
Taxation Policies
The taxation policies of Imperial China were quite uneven. For instance, the land tax varied a lot, ranging from a rather minor part of peasants’ income to a rather substantial one (Burbank and Cooper 18). Therefore, the empire thrived on the direct taxation system, which sometimes affected Chinese peasants and farmers. The attitudes toward the Chinese authorities among Chinese peasants would become especially conflicted when the harvesting conditions became too poor to gain any profit from farming.
Military Policies
While the Chinese philosophy promoted the notions of peace in managing political affairs, China was quite known for its military successes. The Chinese army was known for its methods of brute force and the use of extremely diverse weapons (Burbank and Cooper 19).
Self-Perception and Worldview
Buddhism defined the self-perception and worldview of Chinese citizens to a great extent. Vanity and arrogance were traditionally frowned upon in Imperial China as the qualities that eroded human nature. As a result, the Chinese population embraced the notion of self-reflection and self-analysis, which, arguably, led to the development of a Sinocentric worldview.
Works Cited
Burbank, Jane, and Frederick Cooper. Empires in World History: Power and the Politics of Difference. Princeton University Press, 2010.
Parsons, Timothy. The Rule of Empires: Those Who Built Them, Those Who Endured Them, and Why They Always Fall. Oxford University Press, 2010.
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