H. LATE CLASSICAL PERIOD: EMPIRES COLLAPSE, AND PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

During the late Classical Period (200−600 C.E.), all the greatest civilizations that the world had known collapsed. This included the fall of Han China, the Gupta Empire in India, the western part of the Roman Empire in the Mediterranean, and the mysterious decline of the Maya.

1. Collapse of the Maya

Nobody’s sure exactly what happened to the Maya. Some say it was disease or drought or the declining health of the large peasant population. Others say it was internal unrest and warfare. Chances are, like other collapses, an expanding population gradually exhausted their environment and could not respond to the needs of their population. But whatever the reasons, the Maya started to desert their cities in the ninth century C.E. and the great civilization fizzled out.

2. Collapse of Han China

The Han dynasty was interrupted by the reign of Wang Mang (9–23 C.E.), who established the Xin dynasty after seizing the throne from the ruling Liu family, successfully using the belief in the Mandate of Heaven to undermine them. Wang Mang had been a respected government official before he took power, but soon made some disastrous missteps that weakened the empire and his control over it. Attempted reforms of land ownership and the currency were unsuccessful and caused chaos in the local economy among both the rich and poor. Waging war on the edges of the empire led to conscription of a resentful population and heavy taxation of landowners, which forced them to pay farmers less money for more work. Persistent famines, devastating floods along the Yellow River, and increasing commodity prices added to the resentment and fueled peasant uprisings which Wang Mang’s enemies used to their advantage. The Xin Dynasty came to an end in 23 C.E. with the death of Wang Mang in battle.

The Han Dynasty was restored a couple of years later, but full recovery proved impossible and, in 220 C.E., the government collapsed. For the next 400 years, China was divided into several regional kingdoms.

3. Collapse of the Gupta Empire

The Gupta Empire fell for one simple reason: It was invaded by the Huns—not Attila’s forces, which invaded Europe, but another group, the White Huns. The Gupta were able to hold off the Huns for the first half of the fifth century, but they did so at a tremendous cost, which weakened the state. By the end of the fifth century, there were Hun kingdoms in western and northern India. Though the underlying culture of India (including Hinduism and the caste system) survived the invasion, the empire did not.

4. Collapse of the Western Portion of the Roman Empire

One historical event that has been endlessly debated over time is the fall of the Roman Empire. Some of these theories are reasonable, others much less so. Many try to assign a single cause to this momentous occurrence, but the situation was much more complicated.

In short, however, it can be said that it was internal decay, in combination with external pressure (Attila’s Huns, among others groups), that brought about the fall of the Roman Empire. The sheer size of the empire and the huge expense of maintaining it, coupled by a succession of weak—or just plain bad—leaders, and a series of epidemics, are all factors that caused the empire to collapse.

In 284 C.E., Diocletian had become emperor. He attempted to deal with the increasing problems by dividing the empire into two regions run by co-emperors. He also brought the armies back under imperial control, and attempted to deal with the economic problems by strengthening the imperial currency, forcing a budget on the government, and capping prices to deal with inflation. Despite Diocletian’s innovations and administrative talents, civil war erupted upon his retirement in 305 C.E.

After rising to power in 306 C.E. as a co-emperor, Constantine defeated his rivals and assumed sole control over the empire in 322 C.E. He ordered the building of Constantinople at the site of the Greek city of Byzantium, and in 340 C.E., this city became the capital of a united empire. Constantine, too, was an able emperor, but the problems of shrinking income and increased external pressures proved insurmountable. After his death, the empire was again divided into two pieces, east and west. The eastern half thrived from its center at Constantinople; the western half, centered in Rome, continued its spiral downward.

On its borders, Rome faced external pressure from groups of Germanic invaders (remember we mentioned this earlier?). In defense, Roman authorities put Germanic peoples such as the Visigoths (who had adopted Roman law and Christianity) on the borders. But in the early fifth century,Attila and his Huns began to press on the Germanic tribes; in response, they began to press on the Roman Empire. Because the Germanic tribes had no other place to retreat from the Huns, they crossed the border into Roman territory. The Visigoths sacked Rome in 410 C.E., and by 476 C.E., the Roman emperor had been deposed. The fall of the western half of the Roman Empire was complete. The eastern half would survive, but not as the Roman Empire. It was later renamed the Byzantine Empire.

Contrast Them: The Fall of Han China, the Gupta Empire, and Rome

Two major causes of decline threaten any empire: internal (such as economic depression, natural catastrophes, and social unrest) and external (for example, invading armies). Unlike China, for example, which would later see a return to greatness, Rome would never again be at the center of such a great empire. The momentum had clearly changed to favor the invading German tribes and the powerful Byzantium Empire in the East.

5. Cultural Diffusion 200–600 C.E.

Around the same time that major empires were collapsing, the known world was becoming an increasingly smaller place. Trade routes were flourishing, bringing cultures, religions, and invading tribes into constant contact with each other. Major trade routes over land, like the Silk Road from China to the Roman Empire, took months to traverse. Pastoral communities along the way provided protection, shelter, and supplies for the merchants, in exchange for payment. This meant that merchants not only interacted with people at their destination but also on the journey.

Unfortunately, disease traveled the same trade routes (and with invading armies). To give just a couple of examples, the Mongols carried the Black Death to China; Rome and China suffered from measles and smallpox epidemics, which quickly spread through the empires.

And, as we mentioned earlier, religion also followed the roads of the merchants. Buddhism spread through East and Southeast Asia by way of trade routes. Christianity spread rapidly in the Mediterranean via both land and sea. Even the invading Germanic tribes were converted. By 600C.E., Christianity had taken root as far away as Britain.

By now, you’re also well aware that it was not just merchants and missionaries that were on the move. As entire groups expanded their territories, they also put down roots in the new lands. The Anglos and the Saxons moved into Britain. The Huns moved into India. Only China and parts of East Asia seemed spared massive influxes of outsiders.

The world was clearly changing. The stage was set for entirely new developments, which is what the next chapter is all about.