Empires are classified as successful when they take over other empires, last a long time or leave great accomplishments that may be copied by others. Four empires that could be classified as successful were the Assyrian, Qin Dynasty, Persian Empire and the Han Dynasty of China. These empires prospered because they successfully built and maintained their empire in various ways. To have a triumphant empire one must conquer land, have an organized structure and strong government, create laws, establish a system of communication, have religious tolerance, have a powerful military and have a prosperous economy. For an empire to prosper it must conquer land. When an empire conquers land it shows their power and it increases the size of said empire. Keep in mind; if you want the subdued people to respect you, you cannot treat them harshly. Avoid acting like the Assyrian Emperor, when he conquered lands he used harsh methods. For example he burned crops, destroyed walls, killed the people that rebelled against his beliefs, and destroyed cities. If you treat the people harshly they will most likely rebel and try to overthrow your empire. For example when the Persian Empire conquered Babylon in 539 B.C. they allowed the Jewish population to continue following their religion. Cyrus also let them return back to Palestine to rebuild their temple. This made the Jews think of the Persian emperor, Cyrus as their “shepherd”. Persia further increased the size of their empire by conquering both Egypt and India. Their empire stretched 3000 miles long (Greece to India). An empire must also have a strong government and organized structure. The government controls the way people live. A successful government should have the emperor at the highest class, then a tripartite that is made up of a civil, military, and consort authority, followed by a ground council and then the provinces. Try not to have a government in which they have complete control over the empire (legalism). For example the Qin Dynasty had this type of government and it eventually led to their downfall because of harsh laws such as if a person convicted of a crime that person and their family