The Development of States & Empires More complexity and sophistication Better-armed/organized military forces Stronger bureaucratic Better record keeping mechanisms Key States & Empires brought these to wide-ranging territories Political Economic Social unity Many became classic civilizations Overreach led to many of their downfalls and declines Focus on Patterns in the way they governed themselves, projected power, and organized labor and resource in mentioned Empires The Persian Empires (Southwest Asia) Persians of present-day Iran Dominated the Middle East Built one of the largest empires in world history 1st Dynasty- Achaemenid (550-331 B.C.E) Quickly conquered by Lydians- invented metal coinage 600-500 B.C.E) Neo-Babylonians Egyptians Darius the Great- 3rd ruler