Although the political empire of the ancient empire was its strength, it was also its weakness. It relied on military violence and monopoly advantages in trade to ensure that economic resources flowed from the edge to the center, but caused weakness in the society because the bureaucracy absorbed too much profit. Decline is inevitable when the cost of empire's rule is too high to support it. This passage discusses:. ['How the politics and economy of the ancient empire affected each other.', 'How centralized politics played a role in the evolution of ancient empires.', 'High governing costs were the root cause of the demise of the ancient empire.', 'The negative role of the bureaucracy of the ancient empire in the distribution of economic resources.']