The Challenges of Expansion

In the second chapter of The Age of Empires, Joannes describes the many challenges of expansion that the Assyrian Empire faced. Similar to the empire of Hammurabi, Assyria was feared for their growing military power, leading to many types of resistance by neighboring kingdoms. They were progressing as a dominant force in the Ancient Near East, and this threatened the states that wished to hold strongly to their independence. Babylonia, for example, found an ally in Elam, and together they were able to temporarily halt their own overtaking by the powerful Assyrian Empire. However, this resistance would eventually diminish, as Sargon II launched a military campaign which essentially transformed Babylonia into a province of Assyria. Looking at Hammurabi’s success for expansion as well, it seems as if there is continuously one dominant power that attempts to control the majority of Mesopotamia.

In Sennacherib’s attempts to overtake the resistance of the new province Babylon, he faced rebellions by the people that were similar to what Hammurabi faced when he fought against Mari. Eventually, Sennacherib’s army would take over Babylon, but unlike Hammurabi, his motivations were not synonymous with instilling peace, but rather to pillage and destroy a kingdom that had been disobedient. We see here, how motives can differ drastically between two kings set on expanding their respective kingdoms. While Hammurabi’s goals were to spread common values of justice throughout his kingdom, Sennacherib’s aspirations were masked with vengeance and power. However, although they had different motives, they were both successful in their quest to control an expanding empire.