World history knows the examples of lots of empires, which shocked by their magnificence, and either were ruined by other empires, or the time came for their lost form the map of the world. There is the division of the empires according to the time of their existence: early and late. Neo-Assyrian, Persian and Chinese (Zhou dynasty) are considered to be early and Han dynasty and Roman one are late. The difference in the time of their existence provided some differences in their systems, such as military, cultural, and frontier policies, which are going to be considered in the current paper.
Analyzing the early empires, Neo-Assyrian empire military service was huge in number as the annual campaigns of army creation lead to the several hundred thousand men mobilized. The army also consisted out of conquered people that increased its number. The huge number does not mean the quality, and the army of the early empires was organized not properly, there was no any discipline and order. Considering the distinctive features of the early empires, it should be mentioned that they all longed for wide power, as being the first, they wished to occupy the whole world, as there was no similar power to bother them, so there is no any possibility to dwell upon frontier policies, as all was done with the use of military power. Otherwise that early empires were aggressive, Zhou dynasty ad Persian Empire had some friendly relations with their neighbors. Cultural and moral superiority under the other states was also of the main consideration. During the early empires existence, the rise of culture may be considered. Zhou dynasty rulers used calendar and tried to note all significant events. In addition, the empires were multicultural (Persian for example) as the wars were provided and a lot of conquered lands were joined to the empires.
Considering the late empires, and comparing them with the early ones, the military system in the late empires was much better. Taking the example of the Roman army, it was disciplined, strong, well organized, and did what duty demanded of them. Considering the frontier policies, Roman Empire also did all possible to occupy as much territory as they could and to wider their border line. Han dynasty is also well known in the world of the military occupation and the increase of the frontier. The desire for the world domination also led to the intensification of culture in Roman Empire as well as its development during the ruling of the Han dynasty. The multicultural areas were impossible to avoid, but the cultural life becomes to be more centralized. The increase of the new class of educated people during the Han dynasty tells about the high level of development of this territory in the cultural attitude. Scholars consider the developments and advancements of the two later empires–Han and Roman–more significant than the earlier empires as the late empires were the base of the modern states and were better organized military and administratively than the early ones.
In conclusion, it may be mentioned, that the territory appetites of the early and late empires were similar, but the facilities, which were used, were different. The early empires armies were of huge number, but were not disciplined and properly organized, while the armies in the late empires were less in number, but were much better in quality. The cultural development of the late empires was on the higher level that of the early, but the desire to reach the high level of development was similar. There were some differences in the frontier policies between early and late empires, as late empires were aware about heir power and tried to contest all nearest territories, while early empires were in friendly relations with some of their neighbors and contested only in the peaceful development.