What’s the Significance?
Persian Empire, 120–122
Athenian democracy, 124–125
Greco-Persian Wars, 125–126
Hellenistic era, 126–129
Alexander the Great, 126–129
Augustus, 133
pax Romana, 133
Qin Shihuangdi, 133–135
Trung Trac, 134
Han dynasty, 136–138
Mauryan Empire, 141–142
Ashoka, 142
Big Picture Questions
Next Steps: For Further Study
Jane Burbank and Frederick Cooper, Empires in World History (2010). A fascinating account by two major scholars of the imperial theme across the world. Chapter 2 compares the Roman and Chinese empires.
Arthur Cotterell, The First Emperor of China (1988). A biography of Shihuangdi.
Christopher Kelley, The Roman Empire: A Very Short Introduction (2006). A brief, up-to-date, and accessible account of the Roman achievement.
Cullen Murphy, Are We Rome? The Fall of an Empire and the Fate of America (2007). A reflection on the usefulness and the dangers of comparing the Roman Empire to the present-day United States.
Sarah Pomeroy et al., Ancient Greece (1999). A highly readable survey of Greek history by a team of distinguished scholars.
Romila Thapar, Ashoka and the Decline of the Mauryas (1961). A classic study of India’s early empire builder.
Illustrated History of the Roman Empire, http://www.roman-empire.net. An interactive Web site with maps, pictures, and much information about the Roman Empire.