How civilizations end

Internal political collapse

6 civilizations in this dataset ended primarily this way — separated by as much as 1,059 years and thousands of miles, yet sharing the same underlying cause of collapse.

509 BCE 550 CE

Qin Dynasty

221 BCE–206 BCE

322 BCE–185 BCE

509 BCE–27 BCE

206 BCE–220 CE

247 BCE–224 CE

100 BCE–550 CE

Qin Dynasty

Yellow River to Yangtze, East Asia · 221 BCE – 206 BCE

Rapid collapse into rebellion shortly after the First Emperor's death, despite the dynasty's short fifteen-year span.

Maurya Empire

Indian subcontinent · 322 BCE – 185 BCE

Fragmented after weaker successors failed to hold the empire's vast administrative structure together.

Roman Republic

Italian Peninsula, expanding to Mediterranean · 509 BCE – 27 BCE

Civil wars and the concentration of power under Augustus ended representative rule in favor of empire.

Han Dynasty

East Asia · 206 BCE – 220 CE

Court factionalism and regional warlordism fragmented the empire into the Three Kingdoms period.

Parthian Empire

Iranian Plateau to Mesopotamia · 247 BCE – 224 CE

Weakened by internal succession disputes, then overthrown by the Sassanids.

Teotihuacan

Central Mexico · 100 BCE – 550 CE

Core ceremonial structures show signs of deliberate burning, suggesting internal uprising rather than outside conquest.