10. China's Han Dynasty - The First Empire in Flames
Fall of Civilizations Podcast
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Empress Dowagers of the Second Century
In early imperial china, an emperor could have a number of wives. This meant that the court became quickly over populated with empress dowagers. The two factions fought as much within their groups as between them. Empress dowagers were constantly poisoning each other and their children. Meanwhile, the eunuchs plotted against each other endlessly. Over the next century, these two groups would sink their teeth into every emperor of china. It was not chosen for skill or popularity, but simply for how easy they would be to control. For this reason, these emperors were very often children. One extreme example is the fifth emperor of the later han dynasty, the emperor shang. He was
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