Big Era Five: Landscape Unit 5.1

Why This Unit?

Many of the major long-lived empires that dominated Big Era Four suffered collapse between 200 and 600 C.E. This unit is an investigation of the reasons behind this disintegration, using the Han, Roman, and Gupta empires as models. Students naturally look for, and will readily latch onto, simple mono-causal explanations for such events. It is therefore important for students to learn that major events in history often have highly complex interrelated causes and that they must learn to probe beyond simplistic answers to really understand what happened and why. The unit begins with a look at the definition of empire and the ingredients that make an empire successful. Students are then asked to speculate about what might go wrong that could bring down such an empire. The rest of the unit seeks to answer this question. In the second and third lessons, students investigate the demise of the Han and Roman empires. In both cases, students use a variety of materials including graphic organizers to discover the enormous number of interrelated factors that contributed to the downfall of both empires. The attempts made to reestablish unity are also studied, contrasting the successful unification of China under the Sui Emperor Wen with Emperor Justinian’s failed attempt to reunite Rome. The Gupta empire is examined in the fourth lesson, which begins with a study of the empire’s rise and the “golden age” in India that resulted. Students are then introduced to the Hepthalites, the pastoral nomads from Central Asia, who, in a swift and brutal campaign, annihilated the Gupta. The Gupta model demonstrates to students that, although enduring empires often collapsed for complex reasons, occasionally an overwhelming force armed with superior military technology and tactics obliterated an otherwise strong and well-organized empire. Sometimes the answer is simple after all. Students must consider all of the models in the final lesson, which consists of a writing assessment answering the question, “Why do empires fall?”