The Decline & Fall of Empires: A Comparative History

History is littered with fallen empires. The Roman, Mayan, Persian, Khmer, Russian, French, and English Empires, along with many more, have all risen and for one reason or another, fallen. What did they have in common? What were the causes? What was it like to experience an empire fall around you?

Every empire edits its history to look better than they were or are. In this class, Decline & Fall of Empires, Professor Killmer will use historical examples from empires ranging from ancient to modern to compare and contrast the similarities & differences into the phenomenon of collapse in different times & places.

As the host of “The Dangerous History Podcast” Professor CJ Killmer is dedicated to sharing history that is conveniently left out. Each session, he will examine the themes around which this course has been organized:

1. Causes of Imperial Decline: Looking at some of the explanations for
   why empires seem to always eventually-but-inevitably decline &
   evaluating these explanations’ persuasiveness
2. The Experience of Imperial Decline & Fall: What sorts of things do
   the elites running an empire tend to do as it declines & falls, & what
   sorts of things do regular people tend to experience when living in a
   declining/falling empire?
3. The Aftermath of Empire: What are some of the fates that have met
   collapsed empires, and what has life been like for people living in the
   aftermath of a collapsed empire?