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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 Kings 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 Mongol or Achaemenid Persia ) tend to extend in a contiguous area; sea-borne empires, also known as '' Thalassocracies '' (the Athenian and British empires provide examples), may feature looser structures and more scattered territories. The actual political concept predates the of Sargon Of Akkad furnishes one of the earliest known examples. Compare the concept of "empire" with that of a Federation , where a large, multi-ethnic state — or even an ethnically homogeneous one like Japan 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 '' Hegemonies ,'' which add cultural influences to their power repertory within their Spheres Of Influence . Compare empires with Superpower s. within the .]] IMPERIAL SYSTEMS What constitutes an empire is subject to wide debate and varied definitions. An empire can be described as any state pursuing Imperial Policies , can be defined traditionally, or can be examined as a Political Structure , for example. Motyl describes three types of imperial structures: ''Continuous'', ''Discontinuous'', and ''Hybrid''. In a continuous empire, all the terrritories are adjacent to one another on land. The Mongol Empire , Russian Empire , Aztec Empire , and Akkadian Empire are examples of such continuous empires. A discontinuous empire is one in which the ruled territories are overseas or are Exclave s far from the imperial core. Maritime empires, such as the European colonial empires, are examples of discontinuous empire. A hybrid empire had both adjacent ruled territories and far-flung ruled territories. An example might be the German Reich , which had imperial possessions in Europe as well as overseas in Africa. Motyl also posits varying degrees of empire: ''Formal'', ''Informal'', and ''Hegemonic''. In a formal imperial relationship, the core can appoint and dismiss peripheral elites, obviate any External Agenda Or Policies , and directly control the Internal Agenda And Policies . In an informal imperial relationship, the core has influence but not control over appointing and dismissing peripheral elites, direct control over the external agenda and policies, and influence over the internal agenda and policies. Finally, in a hegemonic relationship, the core has no control over appointing or dismissing peripheral elites, control over the external agenda, influence over external policies, and no control over the internal agenda or policies. Empire ends when significant peripheral interaction begins, not necessarily when the core ceases its domination of the peripheries. The core-periphery relationship can be as strong or weak as possible and remain an empire as long as there is only insignificant interaction between periphery and periphery. In analyzing empires, Motyl makes six caveats: #Empire ought not be conflated with imperialism. The former is a structure, the latter is a policy. #Empire is not necessarily the result of imperialism. #Empires do not rise or decline as a result of choice. Imperialism can be the result of choice, but not empire. #Empires cannot reliably be explained as a result of the Cost/benefit Analysis of the elites. Mythology s, Ideologies , Strategic Culture s exercise far too much influence on elites to allow for a simple cost/benefit analysis. #Inability to see "true" costs and benefits should not be attributed to the myths, ideologies, and strategic cultures. #The concept of overextension or overreach makes the incorrect assumption that empires (or states more generally) have an ideal size knowable to the elite. Finally, Motyl warns that there is no theory of empire that explains both rise and fall equally. Even if the rise and fall were mirror images, it does not follow that the introduction of elements that lead to the rise also lead to the fall upon their removal. LAND EMPIRES EUROPEAN IMPERIALISM The modern term "empire" derives from the Latin word '' 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 Akkad 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 . In and the Empire Of Trebizond . These "empires" were short lived and the region was finally conquered by the Ottoman Empire in 1453 . It would not be until Peter The Great 's crowning in St. Petersburg as Tsar Of Russia that Eastern Imperialism would resurface. Likewise, upon the fall of the Holy Roman Empire after the Napoleonic Wars , the Austrian Empire , later reshaped as Austria-Hungary , inherited western imperialism. 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 1871 – 1918 by the German Empire . Over time, other monarchies which viewed themselves as greater in size and power than mere Kingdom s used the name or its translation. In 1056 , King Ferdinand I Of Leon , proclaimed himself "Emperor of Spain", beginning the '' Reconquista ''. Bulgaria furnishes another example. Europeans came to apply the term "empire" to large non-European Monarchies , such as the Empire Of China or the Mughal 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 '' Tsar dom'', '' Realm '' or '' Reich '' occur. Empires can accrete around different types of State . They have traditionally originated as powerful Monarchies under the Rule of a hereditary (or in some cases, self-appointed) Emperor , but the so-called empires of Athens , Britain and the United States developed under Democratic 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 rĂ©gimes as " Hydraulic Empire s". 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 Bern ese 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 Swiss 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 , Hungary , Transylvania , Croatia , Slovenia , Bosnia-Herzegovina , Czechoslovakia , Ruthenia , Galicia … The world's largest contiguous land empire was the Mongol Empire , created by Genghis Khan in 1206 . It encompassed a 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 . COLONIAL EMPIRES The discovery of the New World provided an opportunity for many Europe an states to embark upon programs of Imperialism on a different model, Colonization . 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 India n 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 . MODERN EMPIRE? 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 Monarchies (as opposed to constitutional monarchies) have largely fallen out of favor 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 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-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 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 Puerto Rico, of the Philippines and of the Virgin Islands , many suggest its powerful military and economic influences allow it to exert a sort of informal Neo-imperial hegemony on much of the modern world (see American Empire , Corporate Colonialism ). LIST OF EMPIRES
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