Preface Carla M. Sinopoli and Terence N. D'Altroy; Part I. Sources, Approaches, Definitions Kathleen D. Morrison: 1. The shadow empires: imperial state formation along the Chinese-Nomad frontier Thomas J. Barfield; 2. Written on water: designs and dynamics in the Portuguese Estado de India Sanjay Subrahmanyam; 3. The Wari empire of Middle Horizon Peru: the epistemological challenge of documenting an empire without documentary evidence Katharina Schreiber; 4. The Achaemenid Persian empire (c. 550-c. 330 BCE): continuities, adaptations, transformations Amelie Kuhrt; Part II. Empires in a Wider World Terence N. D'Altroy: 5. The Aztec Empire and the Meso-American world system Michael E. Smith; 6. On the edge of empire: form and substance in the Satavahana dynasty Carla M. Sinopoli; 7. Dynamics of imperial adjustment in Spanish America: ideology and social integration Kathleen Deagan; Part III. Imperial Integration and Imperial Subjects Carla M. Sinopoli: 8. Politics, resources, and blood in the Inka Empire Terence N. D'Altroy; 9. Egypt and Nubia Robert Morkot; 10. Coercion, resistance, and hierarchy: local processes and imperial strategies in the Vijayanagara Empire Kathleen D. Morrison; Part IV. Imperial Ideologies Susan E. Alcock and Kathleen D. Morrison: 11. Aztec hearts and minds: religion and the state in the Aztec empire Elizabeth M. Brumfiel; 12. Inventing empire in ancient Rome Greg Woolf; 13. The reconfiguration of memory in the eastern Roman empire Susan E. Alcock; 14. Cosmos, central authority, and communities in the early Chinese empire Robin Yates; Part V. The Afterlife of Empires Susan E. Alcock: 15. The fall of the Assyrian empire: ancient and modern interpretations Mario Liverani; 16. The Carolingian empire: Rome reborn? John Moreland; 17. Cuzco, another Rome? Sabine MacCormack.