title: The watershed empires.
abstract: Watershed empires, founded by states in the highlands on the upper reaches of river systems, conquered the flood plains and other regions around them. Three of these, Ch'in in ancient China, Assyria in the middle east, and the Inca of Peru, are described, with emphasis on the horrific socio-political systems which they developed. All, however, were eventually overthrown by a combination of internal revolt and external pressures.
authors.affiliation: University of Reading, Reading.
authors.forename: W M S
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Russell
mesh_terms: D001154:Art / Q000266:history; D002681:China; D002962:Civilization / Q000266:history*; D049690:History, Ancient; D006801:Humans; D008091:Literature / Q000266:history; D008877:Middle East; D011056:Political Systems / Q000266:history*; D045483:Rivers; D013020:South America; D014857:Warfare