Cycles of rise and collapse of civilizations are common in our human past. Among the most fascinating cases are those of empires, conquest civilizations, or states that encompass a number of different ethnicities, polities and peoples. However, their rise and often rapid collapse begs an important question: how stable have empires been in human prehistory? Are they intrinsically unstable political forms? The course will address these questions by examining the major empires of the Old and New World in pre-modern history: Akkadian; Babylonian; Persian; Assyrian; Greek; Roman; Chinese; Ottoman; Aztec and Inca empires. Using readings by political scientists, historians, epigraphers, archaeologists and political anthropologists, we will consider the causes of the expansion and collapse of these empires. We will also examine their sociopolitical and economic structures as mechanisms to provide a cross-cultural comparison of the differential success and final decline of all these empires. Format: tutorial. Requirements: Students will write approximately six papers of 5-6 pages each. No prerequisites. Enrollment limit: 10 (expected: 10). Preference to first-year students, sophomores, and majors. This course is writing intensive.