- 7 weeks ago
From glorious empires to modern chaos - join us as we explore the dramatic fall from grace of once-mighty civilizations! Our countdown looks at ancient powers whose territories are now plagued by political turmoil, economic crises, and devastating conflicts. How did these lands go from pinnacles of human achievement to symbols of instability?
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00:00There were farmers, there were marins, and the Carthaginian negotiations were very famous.
00:30After all, it was the land of Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle.
00:42Greece gave us democracy, philosophy, drama, science, and Olympic glory.
00:47Yet even in their golden age, it was chaotic, patchwork of rival city-states that fought
00:52almost as often as they flourished.
00:54They briefly set aside differences to repel Persia's mighty Achaemenid Empire, but soon
00:59fell back into ruinous civil wars.
01:01The bloody and brutal conflict between Athens and Sparta, known as the Peloponnesian War,
01:08continued for another 25 years, until finally in 404 BC, Athens fell.
01:15That fractious legacy still echoes today.
01:18Modern Greece is known for political and economic turmoil, from corruption scandals to crippling
01:23debt crises.
01:24The stability of ancient Persia and the brilliance of ancient Greece are now in a turbulent
01:29state.
01:30They train all the time.
01:31We are the same.
01:32We see them.
01:33We are falling.
01:34Number 9.
01:35Hittite Empire.
01:373000 years ago, the Hittites stood shoulder to shoulder with Egypt and Babylon as masters
01:42of the ancient world.
01:43In a time of war and conquest, they were the mightiest military power of their age.
01:50From their capital at Hattusa, they ruled Anatolia with advanced chariots, early iron weapons,
01:55and intricate legal codes.
01:57They even brokered history's first written peace treaty.
02:00After a battle with the Egyptians, they made peace with Pharaoh Ramses II.
02:04The Hittites were warriors, yes, but also diplomats, a rare mix in a brutal age.
02:20Fast forward to modern Turkey, a progressive country that still wrestles with economic, political,
02:25and ideological uncertainty.
02:27In September 2025, protests rocked its streets anew.
02:31This case is political.
02:33The accusations are slander.
02:34Our comrades are innocent.
02:36What's being done is a coup.
02:37A coup against the future president, against the future government.
02:41The ruins of the Hittite Empire still stand, but their legacy seems to be fading over time.
02:46Number 8.
02:47Khan-Em-Bornu Empire
02:49For over a millennium, the Khan-Em-Bornu Empire dominated the central Sahel.
02:54And it's kind of like the best of West Africa and the best of East Africa came together and
03:00just formed this amazing empire.
03:02At its height, the empire stretched across modern Chad, Libya, and Sudan with an iron grip
03:07on trans-Saharan trade routes.
03:10This control showered the empire in wealth.
03:12The Saifawa dynasty claimed ancient Yemeni descent, embraced Islam, and made Bornu a hub
03:18of learning, faith, and commerce.
03:20The empire was organized territorially and divided into different administrative regions, each
03:25with its own administrative structure.
03:27Today, the lands once united under Khan-Em-Bornu are fractured and unstable.
03:31Chad struggles with coups and poverty.
03:34Sudan has faced decades of ethnic and religious conflict, leading to South Sudan's secession in
03:392005.
03:40Libya has been in an endless cycle of conflict since the fall of Gaddafi.
03:45Any fighting or violence affects people.
03:47Civilians will die.
03:48The elderly and people who are sick will be impacted.
03:51Families are scared and will need to be evacuated.
03:54Number 7.
03:55Greco-Bactrian Kushan empires.
03:57The war-torn nation of Afghanistan has been in and out of conflicts for decades.
04:01But once, this land had more agency and stability in its cultural shifts.
04:06The Greco-Bactrian kingdom fused Hellenistic and Asian culture, spreading Greek art, language,
04:12and philosophy deep into Central Asia.
04:15Over time, the native Indo-Iranian Bactrians would come to be Hellenized and absorb much
04:21of Greek culture, including the Greek alphabet.
04:24But that independent spirit would remain, succeeded by the Greeks who came to rule the
04:30region.
04:31Its successor, the Kushan Empire, sat astride the Silk Road and launched Buddhism eastward
04:36into China.
04:37Chinese visitors were amazed at the level of wealth and sophistication that their old nomadic
04:42northern neighbor had established themselves in, in this very different part of the world.
04:46For centuries, this frontier was rich, cosmopolitan, and dynamic.
04:51Modern Afghanistan bears little resemblance.
04:54A lot has changed, and not often for the best in recent decades.
04:57The American flag was removed from the embassy.
05:00President Ashraf Ghani died in Tajikistan and declared that the Taliban won.
05:06Number 6.
05:07Ajuran Sultanate.
05:08From the 14th to the 17th century, the Ajuran Sultanate ruled much of the Horn of Africa.
05:13Centered in modern Somalia, it was a powerful Islamic state that controlled the sea trade along
05:18the Indian Ocean and the river valleys inland.
05:21But they basically controlled the water system and the water ducts, which made them very, very
05:26powerful at.
05:27The Ajuran built castles, irrigation systems, and mosques.
05:31Mogadishu grew into a hub of immense wealth, drawing merchants from Arabia, India, and even
05:36China.
05:37Today, that same city is considered to be one of the most dangerous places on earth.
05:51Somalia has been branded a failed state, plagued by piracy, famine, civil war, and terror.
05:56Not terrorism.
05:57The prosperity and order of the Ajuran Sultanate survive only in scattered ruins of its golden
06:03age.
06:07Number 5.
06:08Kingdom of Congo.
06:09The Kingdom of Congo was vast and powerful, one of Africa's greatest pre-colonial states.
06:14It boasted a centralized government and a thriving trade network.
06:18Each regional group or clan had its own profession, pottery, weaving, basket-making.
06:26And trade was based on a system of barter.
06:29Textiles, for instance, could be exchanged for other goods.
06:32In the 15th century, the royal family converted to Christianity.
06:36Its kings corresponded directly with Portugal and the Vatican.
06:40The result was a uniquely Congolese culture blending African traditions with European diplomacy.
06:46But centuries of slave raids, colonial meddling, and internal strife tore the empire apart.
06:54Today, its former lands are among the most unstable on earth.
07:02The Democratic Republic of Congo has endured decades of dictatorship, corruption, and war,
07:07while Angola suffered one of the longest civil wars of the 20th century.
07:11The grandeur of Congo has been degraded by exploitation and crisis.
07:15Congolese people are tired. How many times do we have to die?
07:19Number 4. Kingdom of Great Zimbabwe
07:22Between the 11th and 16th centuries, Great Zimbabwe was the heart of a thriving Southern African empire.
07:28It stood at the heart of a thriving African culture.
07:32A magnet for trade from as far away as China, and a home to skilled artisans and stonemasons.
07:38Its rulers controlled gold mines and cattle herds. They traded wealth as far as the Middle East, even China.
07:45It's believed that about eight kings lived here at Great Zimbabwe with their warriors and close relatives.
07:51The capital's massive stone walls and towers still awe archaeologists today, as they were built without mortar.
07:58But the grandeur of Great Zimbabwe stands in sharp contrast with the modern nation that bears its name.
08:04Zimbabwe is infamous for political repression, economic collapse, and one of the worst cases of hyperinflation in history.
08:11Perhaps proof the Zimbabwe dollar has finally collapsed. It's now become so worthless, no one wants it.
08:18In 2008, prices doubled every day. The value of banknotes increased exponentially.
08:23From golden trade routes to currency crises, the story of Zimbabwe is a tragic reversal of fortune.
08:29Those ancient kingdoms remind me of the fact that African civilizations were present, and they were dynamic.
08:35It was an era of creativity. There was so much that was happening.
08:39Number 3. Ancient Carthage
08:41For centuries, Carthage was the jewel of the Western Mediterranean.
08:45Founded by Phoenician settlers, it grew into a maritime empire that rivaled Rome itself.
08:50Thanks to its strategic position, Carthage grew steadily in importance, eventually overshadowing all other Phoenician settlements, both militarily and commercially.
09:00Carthaginian fleets ruled the seas, and generals like Hannibal terrified the Republic with campaigns that remain legendary.
09:08But Rome's eventual victory in the Punic Wars raised Carthage to the ground.
09:12Carthage's palaces, temples, and great libraries were burnt to the ground, destroying history from Carthage's perspective.
09:20Today, the lands once under its sway. Tunisia, Algeria, and Libya face instability instead of glory.
09:27Tunisia wrestles with political unrest, and Libya has been torn apart by civil war since the fall of Gaddafi.
09:33Algeria struggles with authoritarian rule and economic stagnation.
09:38Algeria is in the throes of a budget crisis amid the global slump in oil prices.
09:43The proud empire that once battled Rome is now remembered only in the history books.
09:49Number 2. Kingdom of Aksum
09:51The Kingdom of Aksum once ranked among the greatest powers of the ancient world. Stretching across modern Ethiopia and Eritrea, it commanded Red Sea trading routes.
10:00At its closest point, the Arabian Peninsula lies just 25 kilometers from here on the Eritrean coast.
10:09Aksum was the hub linking Rome and India. It also minted its own coins and built towering obelisks.
10:15In the fourth century, it became one of the first nations to adopt Christianity. Aksumite merchants and diplomats connected Africa to the wider world through religion, philosophy, and trade.
10:26Anywhere in Ethiopia today, and it's pretty certain that you will find frankincense like this.
10:33Along with myrrh, gold, and ivory, these were the precious exports that helped cement the rise of the Kingdom of Aksum.
10:42Today, the lands of Aksum are sadly marked by bloodshed. Ethiopia has been wracked by civil war in Tigray, with hundreds of thousands killed and millions displaced.
10:52Modern Ethiopia struggles with famine, ethnic conflict, and authoritarian rule.
10:57The brilliance of Aksum now only lingers in legend.
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11:211. Neo-Assyrian Empire
11:26The Neo-Assyrians built the largest empire the world had ever seen at the time.
11:30Their holdings stretched from the Persian Gulf to Egypt.
11:33At its height, in the 7th century BCE, the Assyrian Empire stretched across modern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, and parts of Turkey, Iran, and Egypt.
11:46Centered in Mesopotamia, they were the heirs to the Akkadian Empire.
11:50Centuries later, the Akkadians pioneered the very idea of ruling diverse peoples under a centralized state.
11:57The Assyrians refined that model with a fearsome bureaucracy and military machine.
12:02Their kings pioneered professional armies, iron weapons, and mass deportations as tools of control.
12:08Once the Assyrians conquered an area, they built cities connected by well-maintained royal roads.
12:14At its height, Assyria's capitals dazzled with palaces, libraries, and colossal stone guardians.
12:21But centuries of rebellion and invasion brought it crashing down in 609 BCE.
12:27Today, the land of Mesopotamia is modern Iraq and Syria, still scarred by dictatorship, foreign invasion, and sectarian war.
12:35We need to make sure that Syria will no longer be a center of terrorism.
12:42Which fallen empire do you think would be most disappointed by its modern legacy?
12:47Let us know in the comments below.
12:49Let us know in the comments below.
12:50Let us know in the comments below.
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