Expansion of Ancient Empires Essay

The Romans’ Grand Strategy of Territorial Expansion

The Romans are credited in the book with developing the “grand strategy” of territorial expansion used by most nations. Three main components make up this approach. The first is hegemonic and primarily depends on political pressure. The creation of security by fortifying lines across the most exposed borders was the second component. Even from remote regions like Mesopotamia and Britain, people might be able to see these patterns. A multi-layered defense consisting of central, regional, and frontier reserve troops was the third component. The Romans highly valued the military and they had planning staffs which were fed with relevant information like the capabilities of the enemies and maps that showed the terrains. According to Luttwak, the Roman Empire was the first one to shift the concept of strategy from movement of military on the ground to boardroom discussions. The empire educated and trained its men from a very young age. The men were able to apply power, force and influence whenever they thought that it was necessary. They were also patriotic and could be willing to act accordingly in varying situations.

Zhao’s Perspective on Territorial Expansion

Zhao, T. (2006). Rethinking Empire from a Chinese Concept ’All-under-Heaven’(Tian-xia,). Social Identities, 12(1), 29-41.

Zhao begins by challenging the idea that early empires such as the Roman and the British achieved territorial expansion. According to the article, territorial expansion could mean that people in the acquired regions had the same status as the rest of the Romans or Britons. Instead, the empires embarked on imperialism where they created colonies. The empires ensured that the colonies remain exploited and underdeveloped to power their own expansion. He prepones that the idea of All-under-Heaven was applied by the Chinese Empire in its expansion. Zou Yan, an early Chinese geographer, viewed China as just one of the 81 regions of the world. Therefore, the Chinese Empire did not consider itself more powerful or special. Unlike the other powerful regimes, the empire was committed to achieving equality between the people in other states and its own.

Territorial Expansion and Collapse in Ancient Empires

Findlay, R., & Lundahl, M. (2017). Towards a model of territorial expansion and the limits of empire. In The Economics of the Frontier (pp. 105-124). Palgrave Macmillan UK.

Findlay & Lundahl (2017) use the ancient empires as case studies to explain the factors behind the expansion and collapse of big nations. They note that elementary literature uses “gun” and “butter” to describe the sociological and economic concepts behind territorial expansion. Early territories like the Chinese, Roman and Ottoman empires used these two concepts to expand. The empires saw the process of acquiring new states as investments. Thus they were willing to wage war or offer gifts in order to secure their control over the new states. Findlay & Lundahl (2017) many early empires made efforts to avoid aggression. They use the term “propensity for aggression” to refer to likelihood of using violence where a state is rich in resources. The Romans and the Chinese were keen to ensure that the resources spent on preparing to annex or negotiate with a certain nation were recovered in the course of their relations. Therefore, the expansion strategies of the early empires were laid out basing on economics.

Chinese Empire’s Diplomatic Strategies for Expansion

Luttwak, E. N. (2012). The rise of China vs. the logic of strategy. Harvard University Press.

According to Lutwak (2012), the Chinese had great skills and experience that enabled them to interact. The Empire had strong inter-state relations, established treaty-making procedures and legal provisions that subordinated the domestic laws and resolved conflicts resulting from inter-state treaties. Formal equality saw China maintain strong foreign relations for more than two millennia. The relations between China and other empires and states was powered by gifts from the Chinese. The neighbors of the empire willingly accepted to be included in the ethical and political spheres of the Chinese. The All-under-Heaven was instituted and enforced by the Chinese empire himself who showed commitment to elevate the people of other nations from imperialism. According to Lutwak, the main strategy used by the Chinese for expansion was balance of power. However, the concept was only theoretical because the Chinese were elevated above the nations that collaborated with them. The empire gave the neighboring nations a perception that they were valued.

The Roman Strategy of Capture and Governance

Carmeli, A., & Markman, G. D. (2011). Capture, governance, and resilience: strategy implications from the history of Rome. Strategic Management Journal, 32(3), 322-341.

Carmeli & Markman (2011) note that organizational resilience is a key concept in management and strategy. Over one millennium of historical data on the Roman empire reveal that there were two strategies involved in expansion: capture and governance. The empire put up measures to ensure that they had the capacity to acquire, assimilate, defend, retain and enhance their dominance over other territories. These processes were initiated by institutions that required resources to maintain. The whole process of expansion was governed in a manner geared at achieving its self-sustainability. The means that the Romans viewed territorial expansion from the economic perspective. The expanded territory was to fund the institutions involved and bear profits for the people of the empire. The article examines the whole strategy framework that was put in place by the Romans as a way of enhancing their resilience. The concept of utility of territorial acquisitions can also be applied to entities today, both public and private. Therefore, the article looks at the topic of Roman Empire expansion from the economic perspective.