Comparative governance — empire (Rome, Han, Sasanian, Mauryan, Gupta) vs. city-state (Classical Maya divine kingships at Tikal, Palenque, Calakmul) vs. kingdom (Aksum, early Ghana / Wagadou) — what governs which form emerges? — per Charles Tilly and Walter Scheidel scholarship
Exercise
Difficulty 3
~5 min
hist.g6.s.ex_33
Classification
Prompt
Classify 8 unit civilizations as empire / city-state / kingdom: Roman Empire / Byzantine / Han Dynasty / Mauryan India / Gupta India / Sasanian Persia / Aksum / Classical Maya (network).
How it's presented
mode
text
Answer criteria
type
classification check
correct
- Aksum
- kingdom
- Byzantine
- empire
- Gupta India
- empire
- Han Dynasty
- empire
- Roman Empire
- empire
- Mauryan India
- empire
- Classical Maya
- city-state network
- Sasanian Persia
- empire
Hints
- Empire = centralized + multi-ethnic + large territory. Kingdom = centralized + single-ethnic + smaller. City-state = sovereign-single-city.
- Apply MG-5 Comparative Civilization Matrix to classify.
Misconceptions to watch
- Treating empire as 'better' than kingdom or city-state
Used in lessons