Monday, March 5, 2012

The Human Story - pages 101-106

As usual, make sure you respond to the following question using evidence from your study of ancient history and the reading from the book, The Human Story.  Make sure you respond individually and to another's comments.

Question:  Based on your reading and what you know about ancient history, what is the recipe for building an empire?  What is the recipe for the fall of an empire?  Give examples to support your answer.

76 comments:

Patrick Dillon said...

I think that the recipe for building an empire is that you have to be a good, strong leader with a good, strong army. One example is Nero. Although he was not the best Roman emperor, he expanded the Roman empire.
Another example is the Khans. They were great soldiers who were fierce on the battle field. They weren't afraid to kill people they didn't need to. Their leader, Ghangas Khan, had brilliant military tactics. They also had determination, determination to rule the world.

What contributed to the fall of the roman empire was bad leadership, attacks from other empires, disease, or starvation. The Visigoths attacked the roman empire, which weakened them, but it also created the inspiration for other empires to attack them. The Visigoths cut off the Roman food supplies so when the Visigoths attacked, the Romans were too tired and hungry to fight back hard enough.
Diseases were coming into Rome from foreign lands in the food. The Romans had the plague, which killed many people. This is how the Roman empire crumbled.

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building an empire is rather simple. One strong leader and a strong military conquer everyone. The Khan empire began with Genghis Khan who told his people that it was his duty to rule the world and therefore convinced them to fight for him. He had great skill in fighting and military strategies, and used them so he would never lose a battle. Another example is Julius Ceasar, who expanded and began the Roman Empire. Through his strong leadership abilities and great military strategy and command, he was able to give birth to one of the greatest empires in the history of the Earth.

The fall of an empire is a little more complex. Most of the porblems start when an empire grows too big. This makes it hard to govern and allows for weak places that can easily be conquered. Diseases and attacks help aid the end of an empire, but the driving force is bad leadership and loss of military control. In Ancient Rome, a series of around two dozen bad emporers starting with Constantine contributed to the fall of the empire. In the Khan empire, a lack of fighting skils made them more succeptible to attack. Many things can contribute to the fall of an Empire.

Melissa Requist

Anonymous said...

Patrick -
I agree with you, however the things that contributed to the fall of rome are not all the smae theing that ended te Khan empire. The Visigoths had a large part in ending Rome, but in the Khan empire, there were other groups that attacked and they used different strategies.

Melissa Requist

Anonymous said...

The Recipie for building a great empire is, having a great leader, and having a brutal strong army. An example is the Romans, under Ceaser, when they expanded their land. Another example is that the Khan's great army and battle stratagy. The Khan's also were determaned to rule the whole world, and they kept working at it.

How an empire falls is a weakening army bad leaders, population death other empires attacks and lack of food. The Romans were starving at the time of their downfalltheir army was getting weaker, and there population was being destroyed by plauge. This begat a time when enimies could attack them, like the visigoths. When the visigoths attacked Rome it was very weak and just began to crumble apart.

These reasons are whyempires grow and empires fall.


NOLAN SANKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Melissa,
I agree with you about the fact that the begining of an empire is simpler than the fall. The begining of an empire is only battles, and a strong leader.
The fallof an empire requires many more factors than that, I agree with you that when an empire gets too big it begins to fall, then political catastraphies and war makes an empire fall into an enimies hands.
You are totaly right that many things contribute to the fall of an empire.


NOLAN SANKEY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Lindy Pittman said...

I believe that there are many resons empires grow and fall. One reason they spread their reach is if they have a smart leader like Genghis Khan. Khan was creative strategist and this helped his empire grow and destroy others. Additionally, empires need a strong middle and working class. For example, when Rome allowed their working class to flourish they were strong. However, when they began mistreating the workers they did not work for pride, only to avoid punishment and stopped working as hard.
Several things can contribute to the fall of an empire, like a leader who is weak or petty. Nero is an example of such leaders. Instead of fessing up to being a bad emperor, he blames the Christians. This is just one example of a crumbling empire. Overall, their are many things that make or break an empire.

Mea fisher said...

To have a powerfulmempire you need to have a good a good military to conqure land the romans had a large powerful army. You also need t have a way to get food and suplies for your people and army the romans had roads so it was easy to get things and for people to travel.
It is easy for a powerfull empire to fall if they have too much land the roman empire fell becaus e it had too much land and smaller tribes and groups got mad about geting land taken so they rebel. also if you have bad leaders who are unfair and cruel people are more likly to fight for revenge. the visigoths starved the romans for revenge and the romans died of fammen and disease.

Mea fisher said...

Lindy
I completly agree with what you said about having to have a smart leader. I also think that what you said about the working class not working as hard was smart because then the farms wouldnt produce as much food and they would be hungry. I overall agree with everything you said

Anonymous said...

To build an empire they would need good leadership, a good military, and the determination to progress. For example, the Roman empire had leaders who weren't afraid to take their armies and fight for what they wanted. The fall of an empire can be from tyranny, starvation, and disease. For example, Nero wouldn't listen to his citizens when there was a fire that wiped out a huge part of Rome. From that people starved and went homeless. Also, the Roman had expanded into parts of Europe where disease was present and so the plague killed a lot of people. That was the downfall of Rome.
Tanner S.

Anonymous said...

Melissa,
I think your example of Ganges Khan is a good example of how leaders had to win over the people for them to rule. Also, I agree that tactics were important to winning battles. As for the downfall of an empire, I agree with everything that you said about bad emperors and how the empire had gotten too big.
Tanner S.

Anonymous said...

Based on what I have read in the Human Story, I think that the recipe for building an empire is a strong army to conquer land and keep the cities safe, and good leaders that can make sure that all the people are happy so that no riots start. Along as there are no political or a treatment problem within the people and the size is okay there most likely won’t be an outbreak. If the size gets to big though, the army wont is able to protect it, and the people themselves wont be under control. If the empires are powerful and do a lot of trade, diseases as well as other items will be traded and so sickness can also be another factor. Also if there is bad treatment to the people in the land surrounding the empire, those people might want to revolt, and with such a large area to protect the army might lose a battle that they could have won. With one win against a large empire other tribes would think it was the time to strike and the empire would fall. There are many contributing factors to the rise and fall of an empire but some important ones are size, leaders, and army control.

Nikki K

Anonymous said...

Dear Tanner,
I agree completely with your comment. I like how you put determination for progress because even if you have amazing leaders and military, if they don’t have any determination they will never build a good empire. I also really like how you used examples to support your ideas. All and all I think that your comment was great because it showed lots of thought.
Nikki K

Esther DelliQuadri said...

I think that to create an empire you should start as a small city-state, then you need strong leaders.For example Julius Ceaser or Nero. You need a good, stable goverment with a good sytem for things like voting etc. Also you need citizens that agree to the law. You also need a strong army like the Roman Gladiators to conquer and protect.
Similar to the Roman empire, a empire will fall if other groups attack them several times like how the Visigoths, the Huns, and Hannibal. Also, a bad desion can ruin the empire.

Patrick Dillon said...

Nolan,
I agree with you about the rise and fall of an empire, but another contribution to the rise of Rome was Nero.he greatly expanded the Roman empire. Although Caesar contributed to the rise of the Roman empire.

Esther DelliQuadri said...

Nikki,
I completly agree with yo abot the size of the empire. The empire is built by an army protecting it and expanding it but when the empire gets to big the army can't protect it and it will fall apart. I like how you said that.

Anonymous said...

I think that the recipie for an emprie is a strong motivated leader and people who are wanting a kingdom to be a part of. like the mongols had ghengis khan to tell them that he recived a "message from heaven" to go rule the world he lied to his people so he could go on a giant killing spree.

here is the recipie for the down fall of an empire is one it getting to large (like rome) two it gets bad power thirsty rulers(also rome).

Bryan Gilbertson

Sydney B. said...

In order to become an empire, you need to start with a powerful, influencial leader, an army full of generals and people loyal to the leader, and a plan. To make the Mongols loyal to himself, Genghis Khan told the army Eternal Blue Heaven had decreed that he should lead the world. This only brought more people to him, and no one could prove it wrong. With great strategizing, they were able to conquer much of Asia and Europe.
The fall of an empire is impossible to avoid. A variety of problems could happen; disease, barbarians, inefficient leaders, earthquakes, really anything bad. It is much easier to make an empire fall than create one. All of the different cultures we have studied have fallen: Egypt, Greece, Rome, Babylon, the Chinese, because all of them lost the Mandate of Heaven. Rome fell because of its great size, its inefficient leaders, and barbarians invading. It's just like the Titanic, everyone thought that the ship wouldn't sink, just like everyone thought Rome would never die, and look,what do you know, they both did.

Sydney B. said...

Nikki,
I agree with you mostly. The leaders don't necessarily keep the people happy, sometimes they make them scared to keep them from rioting instead. The mongols create fear in the other peoples by slaughtering them all. I totally agree with you when you say other empires with bad treatment received from that empire usually revolt, like how the Romans treated their army full of people from other cultures.

erik summers said...

The recipe for the rise of an empire is actually fairly complex. First, you must have a very honorable leader who takes into account the needs of the people in the empire,not just the nobles and other important people. This leader must also be strong in terms of military might, but it is not absolutely necessary, because if you have the right tactics and patience, you can win against any odds. also, an empire needs enough food, water and other supplies sufficient enough to support everyone. The recipe for the fall of the empire,is also complex. The first and most major thing that leads to the fall of an empire is surprise. If an empire is unprepared and not fit enough to fight, even the smallest forc can easily outwit them. Take the Visigoths for example. Even though they were small and barbaric, they still easily conquered Rome. More factors are disease, plague, and hunger. All of these are factors that can contribute to the fall of even the greatest empire.

erik summers said...

Patrick,
I completely agree with you. Very well said! :)

Jack Craig said...

I think that the recipe for building a great empire involves a few things. For one, you need to have a strong and powerful army, on that has the power and efficiency to squash rebellions and defend its homeland. Also, a great empire must have continuous effort and agility to preserve and maintain the empire so that they do not crumble. A strong economy is very important to the foundation of an empire as well. without funding for the army, for public services, and no money for people, then the empire will fall. Julius Caesar was a good emperor who expanded and conquered many land so his empire could prosper. The Khans also did a good job conquering, as they were fierce and had no remorse or mercy. Ghengis Khan, was an amazing military leader. He had cunning tactics and an efficient government.
A recipe for a fall of a(n)(great) empire involves several things as well. One thing that isn't good is greediness and/or carelessness. Many emperors did not care for the well being of the empire, and started to give into their own pleasures instead of managing the empire. A good example of the this situation is when Nero was emperor in Rome. He was very greedy and self-centered, and he often only helped the empire if he benefitted from it too. The night when Rome set on fire, Nero didn't even care and he went right back to his party with all of the other aristocrats. Also, when an empire starts to weaken in military force and loses respect, other rebellions might form and the empire will not be readily equipped to handle the situation. For example, when the Khans stopped fighting, they started to relax (too much), and they did not train their military as much. When they were overthrown, it was due to fact that they had lost their bloodthirstiness for battle.
Disease also can weaken and empire significanlty, and back then, there were not many cures/medication for diseases.
Rome and many other empire all rose and fell becuase of these reasons.

Jack Craig said...

To Melissa,
I think that your comment was very good.
I liked how you described the many ways an empire rises and fall, not just one or two reasons. I also liked how you used good historical facts to back up your reasons(ing). The part about the fall of Rome was very well done, as you gave many facts to help.

Lindy Pittman said...

Patrick,
I agree with everything you said except the part about Nero. I believe that Nero did not help, but instead contributed to it's downfall. His persecution of Christians made others despise Rome and he seems like the kind of guy who was a jerk and bossed people around. But other than Nero, I agree with completely.

Anonymous said...

I think the recipe for building an empire has to be just right. To build an empire you need a strong military with an iorn willed leader. This was Gengis Khan in Mongolia and Alexander in Macedon. Also, you need great timing. You need to begin counquring just as another empire begins to fall. This is why Greece didn't grow as huge as it might have because Persia held them back by attacking there borders.

In the fall of an empire many related things happen. Ususally bad leaders begin the downward spiral. This is what happened when rome began to fall. The self absorbed leaders brought chaos into the nation. Also small bands of nomads that move quickly usually help destroy an empire. When the nations army are spread thin counquring more land they rush in and get out before the armies can get to them. This is showed by the Visigoths who moved in seiged the city and left after only 3 days in the city. Disease also play a factor. This is what slashed Rome populations.

All these factors are what make up the growth and downfall of great empires such as Rome, Mongolia Egypt, and China.

Cole G.

Anonymous said...

Patrick

I think your right about needing a strong military leader who has good tacktics on the battlefeild. If you had a bad leader that lost all the time you wouldnt expand very far. Also the disease factor really caused a lot of destruction to empire. Like in Athens when the disease hit they lost a lot of warriors then Sparta came in and destroyed them.

Cole G.

Anna Skubiz :) said...

I think in order to build a strong empire, you first need a strong forceful emperor. He needs to have an increadably strong army following him, like Nero did. Preferably to have an emperor that had brilliant straegies for taking more land would be great, like Genghis Khan. Caesar was also a great leader because he expanded his empire far and wide, using great strategies. The people are also behind a good empire, if the ruler has the help from the people, there isnt much to stand in his way. If an empire has a strong leader and army, with the people following him, thre is a great chance of a strong empire being born.

Empires fall with many things... Disease, attacks, starvaiton, a horrible, violent leader, having too big of an empire, this list could go on and on. For examples the Visigohs attacked the roman empire looking for food, it was too big to bust through the gates, so they waited ouside and stopped all food supply from entering, eventually making them open he gates. The plauge hit many places and empires, it also hit he romans, killing almost all the people there. Leading to the roman empires pitiful demise.

Anonymous said...

The recipe for buidling is pretty much and all around thing. You have to have a strong, intelligent leader, a good army ,plenty of food and water, and enough wealth to support many people. The fall of a empire is atributed to mostly to the things necessary for a good emporer but also, it can be because of invading emporers or disease.


Tess Richey

Anonymous said...

We have a recipes for making almost everything. sO then what is the recipe for building a strong empire? The three most important ingredients you need while trying to make a strong empire are: a powerful leader, an aggressive army, and a plan. For example, Caesar. Caesar was a good leader and was able to expand the Roman Empire. He had a strong army, and a plan. He wanted to conquer land... and so he did. If you want a powerful empire all you need are three simple things.

There is also a recipe for the fall of an empire. The ingredients for the fall of empire include: bad leadership, war, and disease, poverty, and starvation within the empire or city. An example is the fall of the Roman Empire. They were attackedd many times by the visigoths and so did many other empires, leading to war. Rome could not get enough food to keep the population alive. Disease was being brought into the empire through animals, food, and people. If you achieve all of these things your empire is sure to fall, but the most important ingredient is bad leadership. With this your empire is for sure gone.

Many things can lead to the rise and fall of an empire, but you only need a few simple thing to have either.
Julia Wong

Anonymous said...

Dear Anna,
I agree with you. For a stong empire you needed a good emporer, an army, and a strategy. It was best to expand your empire, like Nero did. For the fall of an empire though, there were a few more things like starvation, attack and many more just like you said. The visigoths were a large part the fall of the Roman Empire. I agree with you completely.
Julia Wong

Maura Glynn said...

There are many recipes in life, some have great results, some with disastrous consequences. A recipe for an amazing and strong empire needs to begin with the basics. The basics are to have a good, strong, and stable army and to have a strong leader who is good under pressure. One example is Genghis Khan and his army. They were strong, smart, and fierce in battle. Their leader had amazing tactics and dtermination. Another example is Julius Caesar. He wasn't afraid to make sacrifices for his empire. One example of these sacrifices was him falling in love with Cleopatra, then leaving her for the good of his empire.

An empire falls apart by being under the rule of bad leaders, being attacked by tribes or other empires, starvation, and disease. When the Visigoths attacked, they not only weakened their army, but inspired others to attack the empire. They also cut off supplies to the empire so that when they attacked a second time, the Romans were hungry and tired, and they couldn't fight back. The riches in Rome also contributed to the recipe of their disaster. The treasures were being imported from foreign lands, and with them, disease. The plauge in Rome killed many people, and it also crumbled the empire.

Maura Glynn

Anonymous said...

A good recipe for a empire is a good leader and a good army. An example of this is the khans. they had fearless soldiers that killed peoples with ease.
The fall of an empire has a couple more ingredients.it takes teh perfect storm. they need disease, attacks from other empires, and starvation. all these happpened to the Romans and that is probably the only way they could have fallen.


WILL F.

Anonymous said...

matt,
I agree with you about that it many ingrediants to make an empire rise. I also used the same example as you. the fall of an empire is also complicated. i agree with you on everything you said.

Will F.

Anonymous said...

Just like any recipe, the building of an empire comes about when many great ideas, or ingredients, come together to make one great thing. When great leaders come forward to take controll and untite the many great ideas is the very beginning of the new empire. Over time, even more new or improved ideas come together to create an even better empire.
The falling of an empire isn't just caused by one certain thing. It is a build up of many things just like the building of an empire. Each little detail that contribures to the fall of an empire makes the empire a little bit weaker and over time, it finally snaps.
Lark

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building and the falling of an empire are very different, and one little change could possibly result in a drastic fall of an empire.
The recipe for building an empire is simply a very srong leader, who has a very strong brutal army that will always listen to their leader.The khans are a great example of this because they had a very brutal army and their leader,Gangas kahn, was powerful and everybody listened to him.
The recipe for the fall of an empire is very different and quite complex. Usually the fall of an empire starts when the empire grows too big, and a disease breaks out in the empire. A good example of this is the fall of the Roman empire. Their empire was very large when the plague hit it, and then it was very easy for the plague to spread and kill people. I think that every empire will eventually fall because it is very hard for empires to controll the amount of people in them.
Matthew White

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building an empire is to have great tactics and a powerful army. You also need the ability to hold the peace.

The recipe for one to fall is when slaves and warriors to revolt against their emporers. It also happens when diseases roll through and kill everyone.

Tyler Herndon

Anonymous said...

Patrick, I agree with your comment completely and think that you put a lot of time and thought into it. You are totally right about Nero being not the best emperor but having a very successful empire.Great job
Matthew White

Anonymous said...

There are many different small little things to make the perfect recipe for an amazing empire. The largest thing to make a large empire is the ruler to start out with. The ruler has to be very ambitious and determined to take over othr countries. He has to be cruel to enslave the enemy population, but also be a just ruler to his people. To rule an empire the ruler has to be loved by his people and admired by his people and most important of all, willingly followed by his people. In order to obtain all of these things from his society, he must treat all of his people with respect. The ruler must have a somewhat political mind and most definently a mind for war. He must also be diplomatic to the neighbouring countries and be able to generate allies.

As well as having a phenomonal leader, the civilazation must have a lot of food and money. They must generate a strong aura about their empire to warn other people not to mess with them.
JV

Anonymous said...

Matt,

I agree. When the empire grows, more people are likely to revolt and destory an empire. The oppisite is also correct. When you have strong leaders, your empire grows.

Tyler Herndon

Anonymous said...

as you know it, we have had many great empires in the past. the main ingredient for building an empire is to have a great emperror. with this you can have great leadership. another ingredient is to have a great army so you can defend your empire. the last is to have an idea of what to do with your empire.

to have a failing empire you must have no good army so they cant defend the empire. the second ingredient is to have no good emperror or plan.
Joe DeLine

Anonymous said...

I think that the recipe for building an empire is only a few ingredients long:
a great leader
advanced technology
and
great stategies and a brutally powerfull and merciless army
Rome had all of these wrapped into one, like a power-hungry burrito.
unfortunatlly, rome got too big for its own good, and all the burrito meat beagn to leak out, until all they had was a soggy, weak tortilla that other empires wanted to stuff with their own power-hamburger. Rome had spread itself too thin, and made too many enemies, so it was, quite literally, a recipe for dissaster.
~~RYLAN~~

Anonymous said...

Julia,
I strongly agree with your response. I liked how you said that to build an empire you need a plan. I didn't think about that before but once I read you post I realized that it is very important to have a plan. Without a plan the ingrediats would just come together and then nothing would happen and the empire would fall really quickly.
Lark

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building and controlling an empire in my opinion is ultimately a good ruler. People need leaders, because people have a hard time making their own decisions. It always helps to have someone else to make the decisions for you, especially if the decisions benefit you. A great leader is respected and followed, strengthening military and diplomatic power.

You could also say that a leader is also the downfall of most empires. If you have a corrupt leader that cares only for the benefit of himself, then the people will meet a great demise. Take for example Caligula; an emperor that was hated, corrupt, and selfish. Under his rule Rome's political system went down the drain, and had he ruled longer, then Rome probably would have gone with it.
Connor Frasier

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building an empire is just to have a strong leader and a boss army. Then you go out and slay. Gengis Khan did this when he tried to take over the world. The recipe for a fall of an empire is the exact reverse. When an empire has a weak leader and a tubby army. This happens when Gengis Khan dies and his soldiers get tubby.

Jake Crouch

Rylan, I aggree that an empire is like a buritto. When the tortilla gets stretched too thin all the good stuff falls on the floor and other people steal it an put it in their mouths.

Jake Crouch

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building an empire has many ingredients such as perserverence, determination, power, and leadership. For example, Khan was a fierce leader and his army was too. They would chop down anything in there path letting them conquer what ever they could. Gengis Khan was a great leader with tactics and heart, he wanted to rule the world. A falling empire lacks what a winning empire has. For example Rome fell because of many flaws such as leader loss, limited resources, size, etc. It was the perfect storm of failure and so they fell.

NICK SIMON

Anonymous said...

JV,i agree with your comment. i think you explained your reasoning very well. the best part of your comment was how you explained all the smallthings needed. but your missing how an empire could fall. good comment jv!
joe deline

Anonymous said...

To me, the main thing that makes an empire fall is that the empire grows too big. When the empires got too large for the government. The leaders could not keep in contact with each other and the empire would split into multiple regions and be taken over.
Inept leaders were a big part of empires falling. If generals took over and killed the Senate; the empire would move into choas because they would not have the right ruler. The empire would then be taken over by small tribes and rebel armies. Also, the empire could get too large for the amount of people in it. The army that they had would not be enough to guard and they would have to hire Mercanary soldiers. The mercanary soldies would then rise up and kill the empire if they weren't getting paid enough.
JV

Anonymous said...

Connor,
i agree with you, coligula (i didn't spell that right) was just the beginning, after him all the rulers decided to follow in his crazy, messed-up footsteps and everything went downhill from there
~~RYLAN~~

Surina Techarukpong said...

I think that the recipe for building an empire consists of many different ingredients. The base of the empire must have a strong powerful leader that is not afraid of falling. they must have a large territory and be able to control all of their land. The empire must have a large population, and a strong work force and army to get things done and keep them in order. They have to be able to have some sort of substantial source of food or income for the empire to thrive.

I think the recipe for ruining an empire is very simple. If you get all the perfect tragedies mixed together it becomes disastrous. The first thing is an inept leader. If he is corrupt or lazy the empire will slowly deterioate. If the population becomes too large than the citizens become unruly and hard to handle. The ROman empire was diminshed because of the lack of food and lack of leadership. If the empire hadnt gotten too large and hard to handle it most likely would still be thriving today.

Surina Techarukpong

Anonymous said...

Rylan,
I love the analogy that you used. How it was literally a recipe for disaster. If all of the good stuff in the empire falls out, the burrito slowly collapses from within. You may try to put it back together but the hole is too big and the breaking empire(or burrito) cannot be fixed.
JV

Anonymous said...

Rylan,
I very much enjoyed your response. You used great analogies that I would have never thought would have anything to do with Rome. The power burrito was very clever and also made me hungry. You also had good reasoning behind your response, like Rome being stretched too thin and then becoming nothing. Rome's many enemies came and ate all the good burrito stuffing and then filled it with beans, but the beans were not the same as the beef. Therefore Rome fell apart like a burrito in a flimsy corn tortilla.
Connor Frasier

Anonymous said...

A recipe for building a great empire takes multiple component. A main one is it needs a strong leader. An empire needs somebody who can make intelligent decisions all the time and somebody who can lead a community. It also needs a stong military and military leaders. With a strong military, the empire can take control of many other empires and expand theirs. You would need strong military leaders as well because without a good leader, how are you going to come up with battle strategy or defense? One last thing needed for a strong empire is a community of people that can work together. With a non-functioning community, the empire can dont work together.

A recipe for the fall of an empire is simple. For the most part, an empire will become to big to function properly and things will start to turn into turmoil. Overpopulation will cause bad living space for people because there wont be enough places to live. Also with to many people comes less food. Once these things start to happen, then other small empires of bands of people will take advantage of the empire. If there already isnt enough food then they might cut off all food supply all together. They also might try invading the city and completely taking it over. One last thing that will contribute to the fall of an empire is bad leadership. Without a strong leader, the empire will fall apart.

Jack Starkey

Surina Techarukpong said...

NIck,

I totally agree with you. A falling empire has what a thriving empire has but it is limited and there is a lack of all the good. Genghis Khan was powerful and perservering. He had all the qualities that you talked about for a leader. I also think that it is more than just the leader who runs the empire, it is also the citizens.

Anonymous said...

Patrick, I agree with your response and it is very true. I like your example of Nero, he did expand the Roman Empire. The Romans totally failed for many reasons like you said, starvation was a huge contributing factor and everyone lost resources.

NICK SIMON

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
I like all the things you said in your post. You used lots of detail from the book and all of the facts that we have learned.

Jack Starkey

Anonymous said...

Patrick,
I like all the things you said in your post. You used lots of detail from the book and all of the facts that we have learned.

Jack Starkey

Maura Glynn said...

Dear Lark,
I agree with you that when the ingredients come together, that is when a recipe begins to be good. I also agree that once the empire unites, it becomes a great empire. I also agree that once an empire improves and expands, it becomes an even better empire. I like how you said that the empire's downfall is a build up of many different things, and in the end, it just snaps. I agree completely with that statement.

Maura Glynn

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building is great empire is one strong leader that people like and a great military to conquer other places. The Khan empire had these traits; a great leader, Genghis Khan, who convinced his people to fight for him which made a good army. Another example is Julius Caesar. He expanded and began the Roman Empire.
An empire can fall for many different reasons. The empire can get too big and too hard to control. It can also fall because of bad leaders, diseases, reduction in population, attacks, and starvation. When the Romans came to their downfall when they were starving, the army was getting weaker, and the population was being reduces due to plague. There weaknesses where other empires key to attack and destroy them once and for all. The enemy that started these attacks was the Visigoths. After them Rome started to crumble.
-Gillian

Anonymous said...

Dear Patrick,
I agrre with your whole response. I liked how you used exeamples from the book like Nero and Khan. I also agree with all of your reasons of how empires grow and fall. Lastly, I think you did a really great job writing your comment. You also wrote a lot.
-Gillian

Peter Rosenthal said...

I think that the recipe for building an empire is very simple. If this recipe could only have one ingredient, it would be WISDOM. In order to understand this recipe it will help to think of something modern, like the United States of America. You need to be smart if you wanted to build an empire. Right once America won it's independence from Great Britain, it was just the thirteen colonies. However, it didn't stay like that for long. They went to expand. They knew what to buy, and what to fight for. For example, Colorado was won in a war with Mexico, Alaska was bought from Russia. Once the empire is up, it need a place to operate from, like Washington DC. This is generally where many glorious monuments are found. The empire will also need a ruler. In the united states, the rule is split into three, and also given to the people, but using Ancient Rome as an example, emperors were given complete power until they died or stepped down.

The fall of empires usually come with rebellions due to taxes or poor treatment, or from other lands conquering them. I think The United States is slowly being financially conquered by all other countries in the world, but the British Empire came to fall when the United States rebelled due to high taxes, and poor treatment.

Peter Rosenthal said...

Jack Starkey,
I think your response is completely correct, I just feel like it lacks examples. It is like when we did our persuasive essay, Mrs. Craig said that we couldn't just list the facts.

Logan Sankey said...

The recipe for building a great empire starts with a leader who brings together people in a culture and unites them with a common cause, usually the expansion of territory. They also have a strong military force which usually conquers people and rules them with an iron fist. Any other attempt to create a great empire is usually unsuccessful and short-lived. The past has shown that the most successful empires have enforced laws and invested in military. The path to the top ensures that you will have many enemies but you also must make many friends in order to stay there. Empires fall when the people who are governed by them rebel against the rulers, diseases, or loss of culture. As seen with the Khans, when empire cultures adopt the customs of the conquered people the lose the aspects of them that let them become an empire in the first place. All empires must come to an end at some time, for it isn't possible to control such a large amount of land without rebel.
Logan S.

Logan Sankey said...

Melissa,
I liked what you said about weakness in large empires contributing to the fall of empires. It shows that when an empire grows large combined with bad leadership or military control then control get out of hand and it makes it very hard to keep an empire in line, usually resulting in the fall or decline of an empire.

Anonymous said...

The recipe for a great empire is a strong army, a powerful leader, and a common goal or belief. The Huns, for example, had Genghis Khan, a strong leader, a powerful army, and they all believed that the Mongol gods wanted Genghis to rule the world.
The recipe for the fall of an empire is too large of an empire, one or more terrible leaders, and, most of the time, a natural disaster to weaken the empire. For example, the Romans had the few terrible leaders toward the end of the empire such as Nero and Caligula. The Romans also had too spread out of an army and was too susceptible to revolts. And, the plague came in and wiped out a large percent of Romans.

MAX GAMBER

Anonymous said...

It is simple, you've got a good leader like Genghis Khan, you've got a good city. People work hard for a good leader and if people are working hard and they like the ruler work will get done. If the ruler starts mistreating them, they won't work as hard and work will not get done and the empire will fall.

An Emperor like Nero that blames others is not a good leader. My hockey always says, "A good leader takes less than his share of the credit, and more than his share of the blame." If your emperor is weak and blames others he wont be the one that the people want to work for.

Scott B.

Anonymous said...

Max, I agree with you completely. You are right about needing a strong army, a good leader, and religion. The Mongols thought that god wanted Genghis to rule the world so they fought their butts off to do what the gods wanted. Nice post Max!

Scott B.

Anonymous said...

Scott- I agree with you. I like how you used the example with Nero. Nice post.

MAX GAMBER

Anonymous said...

The main recipe for building a great empire is to have a home base. For example, the Greeks had Sparta and Athens, and the Romans had Rome. Also, you would need a string army, and be able to conquer other lands. The Huns were a great example.

However, often times in history you see empires fall. My theory is that when an empire gets larger it has more enemies. Then, enemies band together, and with the help of things like disease and starvation, they take down an empire. Like in Rome, there was a plague, and in Greece a plague struck right after the civil war. Notice how all empires fall after their great glory. Perhaps the most successful empire will stay small. They would have to suffer plague and famine, but not so much war.
Sydney Shelton

Anonymous said...

Dear Patrick,
I enjoyed reading your comment. Your view on Nero is very unique. You gave lots of evidence.
Sydney Shelton

I would also like to add to my previous comment:
One more reason why empires fell was lack of communication.

Anonymous said...

To build the perfect empire you need 2 eggs, sugar, olive oil, and a pinch of salt. Just Kidding!!!!!!
You need an amazing leader, who has a strong, courageous army. Such as Ghangas Khan and his men, the Khans. The Khans had no fear and took everything by force, leving no one living and nothing standing. Allowing their army to spread far and fast. On the other hand the perfect recipie for the fall of empire requires far different things. Just one cup of disease and starvtion and two cups of bad leadership mixed in with some invasions from other empires will give you one overcooked civilization. An example is the Romans. The Visagoths surounded Rome, cutting off its foog supply and starting the spread of many diseases. Then, when Rome was at its weakest, the Visagoths attacked. Destroying Rome, leaving them wide open for attacks from other empires.
Will McConnell

Anonymous said...

Dear Surina,
I completly agree with you on the Roman empire. Your totally right, if the Roman empire hadent gotten so enormous it would have been much easier to control and probably would still be thriving today. I mean come on, you have to draw the line somewhere or your empire is going to get out of hand, its bound to happen.
Will McConnell

Anonymous said...

The recipe for building an empire is pretty complex.First, you need a good smart ruler that pleases the people and is skilled both politically and militarily. Secondly, you need to have a good army to defend your lands and help you conquer new ones. Also, you need to have a good economy and overall health in your empire. You need to establish reasonable laws and enforce them fairly. The reason an empire would fall would be if it started failing in more than one of these areas. For instance, part of the reason the Romans fell was because they were treating their people unfairly and they started to rebel. Also, they started getting wide spread diseases. And these are just two of the things that made it fall.
-Margaret L.

Anonymous said...

Dear Surina,
I completely agree with you. I didn't think about the fact that they also need a reliable substantial income and that they can't get too big. If they get to big, it makes it harder to enforce laws and make sure every one is happy. Those are good points. I also think that they need to make sure to be fair in their laws so they don't make their people rebel. Since the Romans taxed their people so high that was one example of unfair treatment that lead to many rebellions.
-Margaret L.

Anonymous said...

MArgaret,

Your response is spot-on. You need all of those necessary thingslike a good emporer and enough food. You're right the empire did fall because they treated teir people bacly and they had diseases, you're absolutly correct that these were only two of the reason s too. all-in-all an excelent response.


Tess Richey

Anonymous said...

I think the recipe for building an empire is a motivated leader and a strong army. For example, the Khan
empire had a good leaders and a great army. An empire can fall for many reasons. It can be caused to fall by disease, over poplation, starvation and attacks. The romans are a good example. The Visigoths cut off their food supply which led to starvation and disease. And... ya.
~ Kaylie R.

An example is the Romans. The Visagoths surounded Rome, cutting off its foog supply and starting the spread of many diseases. Then, when Rome was at its weakest, the Visagoths attacked. Destroying Rome, leaving them wide open for attacks from other empires.

Anonymous said...

There are many things needed to build an empire. The main thing I think you need is a strong army like the Roman's.Good army will keep an empire safe,expand it and "scare" away intruders. The only way to have a strong amry is to have someone to lead it.Some great miltary leaders and leaders in general are Genghis Khan,Julius Caesar,Nero, and even as far back as Egyptain Pharoahs like Ramses the Great. Another thing an empire needs is technology. Examples are baths,aquaducts, achitecture, instraments,roadways and even entertainment. Things like baths and sewers keep and empire clean;entertaining things like instraments,sports and art keep citizens happy and at peace in an empire. For an empire to be technoloically advanced, it needs education, a way to pass imformation and skill from generation to generation. Simpified, a empire needs an army, a leader, technology, and education.

If one of those four things stops it will lead to the fall of the empire, in a sort of chain reaction. An example is Rome. The leaders of Rome became to get power hungery and less concerned for thier citezens.They taxed more and tried to take over more and more land. Therefore, the people and even armies got mad and the teamwork of the armies was lost. So the chain reaction has started, bad leader equals bad army. Bad army means more attacks and hardships within the empire. So when Rome's army weakened we saw more attacks from smaller tribes. During this time, sewers were not beibng kept up and diese ravged the city. Now we have a weak and sick empire and the education gets put ont he back burner. Now we have a weak, sick, and uneducated empire, and if you look at the recipe, this empire lacks all the ingeridents. The fall of an empire is a result of the oppistite of the reason is trives, sickness, no leader or army, technology and education.
Meg A

Anonymous said...

Dear Erik,
You said that both the rise and the fall of an empire are very complex. I disagree and think that it is actually very simple to have an empire rise, in a way, if all the key components are there. Like you said you need a leader and a military, though that is not a simple thing to put together, its one simple way to have a stong empire. Again for the fall of an empire, you said surprise. Simple concept. I totally agree that surpirse can possiblt bring down and empire, and you even show proof with the Visigoths but I think surprise is a simple war concept. Surprise has been seen many times before, like in Greek battle of Marathon. So, in my opinion the fall and rise of an empire is simple but not neccesarly easy.
Meg A