The Limits of Universal Rule
Eurasian Empires Compared

The first comparative study to explore the dynamics of expansion and contraction of major continental empires in Eurasia.

Yuri Pines (Edited by), Michal Biran (Edited by), Jörg Rüpke (Edited by)

9781108726825, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 15 December 2022

411 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.1 cm, 0.593 kg

'A captivating collection of essays about empires of the past and the factors that determined their territorial extent. Alongside a few familiar examples, such as Rome and the Mongols, are many little-studied empires in the Islamic world, Russia, and China. Consistently compelling reading.' Valerie Hansen, author of The Year 1000: When Explorers Connected the Globe—and Globalization Began

All major continental empires proclaimed their desire to rule 'the entire world', investing considerable human and material resources in expanding their territory. Each, however, eventually had to stop expansion and come to terms with a shift to defensive strategy. This volume explores the factors that facilitated Eurasian empires' expansion and contraction: from ideology to ecology, economic and military considerations to changing composition of the imperial elites. Built around a common set of questions, a team of leading specialists systematically compare a broad set of Eurasian empires - from Achaemenid Iran, the Romans, Qin and Han China, via the Caliphate, the Byzantines and the Mongols to the Ottomans, Safavids, Mughals, Russians, and Ming and Qing China. The result is a state-of-the art analysis of the major imperial enterprises in Eurasian history from antiquity to the early modern that discerns both commonalities and differences in the empires' spatial trajectories.

Foreword
Introduction. Empires and their Space Yuri Pines, with Michal Biran and Jörg Rüpke
1. From the Mediterranean to the Indus Valley: Modalities and Limitations of the Achaemenid Imperial Space Pierre Briant
2. Limits of All-under-Heaven: Ideology and Praxis of 'Great Unity' in Early Chinese Empire Yuri Pines
3. The Roman Empire Wolfgang Spickermann
4. The Medieval Roman Empire of the East as Spatial Phenomenon (300-1204 CE) Johannes Preiser-Kapeller
5. Early Islamic Imperial Space A. C. S. Peacock
6. The Mongol Imperial Space: From Universalism to Glocalization Michal Biran
7. The Territories and Boundaries of Empires: Ottoman, Safavid and Mughal Stephen F. Dale
8. Delimiting the Realm under the Ming Dynasty David M. Robinson
9. The Expansion of the Qing Empire Before 1800 Matthew W. Mosca
10. All under the Tsar: Russia's Eurasian Trajectory Jane Burbank.

Subject Areas: Historical geography [HBTP], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Early modern history: c 1450/1500 to c 1700 [HBLH], Early history: c 500 to c 1450/1500 [HBLC], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA], General & world history [HBG]