Totalitarianism In Assyrians

Empires grow from the conquest of one group by another. They’re the extension of political rule by one group over a different one. In order to maintain an empire in power the current ruler must make sure to employ strategies and techniques that will keep conquered groups composed. A few of these included pragmatism, totalitarianism authority, and syncretism. Pragmatism essentially was a system in which conquered groups were allowed to continue living the way they previously did before their state was taken over. Totalitarianism was a system of control that hypothetically allowed no individual sovereignty and intent was to lower all factors of that individual’s life to the control of the state. While syncretism was the practice of culture alteration

The Assyrians showed little sympathy to the conquered and promoted terror throughout the empire (“Rise of Empires Assyria and Persia” slide 18). The Assyrians controlled conquered states through strategies of enforced migration and taxation. They believed that the best way to prevent any future uprising was to remove the former occupants of the land and replace them with Assyrians (“Rise of Empires Assyria and Persia” slide 24). This led to a loss of individuality that steered opposition to lose will to fight against the Assyrians. The people that were deported were selectively chosen for their capabilities and sent to areas which could make the most of their abilities. Those subdivisions of the population that had aggressively resisted the Assyrians were killed or marketed into slavery, but the over-all population became engrossed into the expanding empire and was thought of as Assyrians. The king also assumed the religious responsibilities of the conquered

Alexander the Great’s military excursion transported many Greeks and Macedonians to the East throughout the Persian Empire and into India. The individuals in his military, families, historians, philosophers, writers, researchers and others traveling with Alexander carried their Western traditions with them and Cyrus made sure to employ Greek and Macedonian people in control of his conquests (Lecture “Alexander the Great and Hellenism”, October 8). For example he promoted large wedding of Greek nobles to Persian women to create a cosmopolitan culture (“Alexander the Great and Hellenism” slide 16). The combination of cultures that were shaped by the conquests of Alexander the Great, his successors, inclined to mix together a variation of religious and philosophical opinions that resulted in a strong inclination toward religious syncretism. As a result, Western principles merged with Eastern culture to produce new types of cultures throughout Alexander’s Empire. It is clear that Alexander set out to create a united empire that included both Greeks and