These GIFs show the rise and fall of the world's empires

The world has always been in a state of conflict and change. 

Throughout all of human history, empires have risen only to be overtaken and then to fall because of some combination of internal pressures and external assaults. Such broad sweeps of history are generally hard to picture - especially contextually with the rest of the world. 

Fortunately, Ollie Bye has created a YouTube video that shows the entire history of the world's empires rising and falling. We have GIFed some of the pivotal moments of human history below.