Ruling Millions: Law, Exams and Roads

Holding an Empire Together

1Ruling a large empire raised hard problems. Leaders had to make the same rules work in faraway provinces, find officials they could trust, and learn quickly about trouble at the edges of their lands. Three empires found very different answers.

2The Byzantine Empire, the eastern part of the old Roman Empire, was ruled from Constantinople. When Justinian became emperor in 527 CE, Roman law was a confusing pile of laws and legal opinions written over hundreds of years, and some of them contradicted each other. Justinian ordered a team of legal experts, led by an official named Tribonian, to collect, sort and update them. By 534 CE the work was done. The collection, later called Justinian's Code, gave judges across the empire one body of law to follow. Centuries later, scholars in western Europe studied it, and it shaped the laws of many countries.

3In China, emperors needed thousands of officials to collect taxes, run courts and manage projects such as canals. Under the Sui dynasty, about 605 CE, China began choosing some officials through written exams, and the system grew under the Tang dynasty. By the Song dynasty (960–1279), the exams had become a main path into government. Candidates studied the Confucian classics for years and wrote essays on government and ethics. Only a small share passed the highest exams. The exams did not end the advantages of rich families, who could pay for teachers and books. Still, they let some men from ordinary families rise by talent. China used versions of the exams until 1905.

4The Inca Empire stretched along the Andes Mountains of South America and was ruled from its capital, Cusco. Historians estimate its road network at 30,000 to 40,000 kilometers, with rope bridges across canyons and stone stairways up steep slopes. Communities owed labor to the state, called mit'a, and some of that labor built and repaired the roads. Along the roads stood way stations called tambos, which stored food, cloth and weapons. Relay runners called chasquis carried spoken messages and quipus, knotted cords that officials used to record numbers such as harvests and taxes. Each runner ran a short stretch and then passed his message to the next runner. The Inca did not use a writing system like those of Europe or China.