This course will examine the growth and development of the largest empire in world history—the British Empire—beginning with the late fifteenth century Tudor dynasty in England and ending with the death of the Queen-Empress Victoria in 1901. By the beginning of the twentieth century, there were very few countries or people who had not been affected, one way or another, by the impact of the British. The Empire itself by then covered over a quarter of the world’s land surface,..
At the height of its rule, the Holy Roman Empire extended from Sicily to the North Sea. From Charlemagne to Napoleon, through crusades and conquests, witness the powerful unification of Emperor and Church that lasts for over a 1,000 years and changed the political and spiritual landscape of Europe. The discovery of the New World, the Protestant Reformation, and finally, the French Revolution all contributed to the decline and eventual fall of the Holy Empire.
The Roman Empire was born almost three thousand years ago in central Italy and left a deep and lasting imprint on the history of Western civilization. "All roads lead to Rome," and Romans exported their goods to and integrated cultures from every corner of the known world. However, after the rise of the empire in 31 BCE, environmental problems, disease and political corruption took their toll.
Twenty-five hundred years ago, trade caravans came from every direction to Persepolis in modern Iran, the heart of the Achaemenid Persian Empire that spanned from the Indus to the Mediterranean, from the Lybian desert to the steppes of Central Asia. The empire reached its greatest extent under Darius I, who reigned in the gleaming palace complex of Persepolis, regarded by many as the eighth wonder of the world. In this program, students will explore the monumental challenges faced by ...
