In India, the ancient period ends with the decline of the Gupta Empire (6th century) and the beginning of the Muslim conquests there from the 8th century. In China, it can also be seen as ending of the growing role of mounted warriors needed to counter the ever-growing threat from the north in the 5th century and the beginning of the Tang dynasty in 618 AD.
In Europe and the Near East, the end of antiquity is often equated with the Fall of Rome in 476 AD, the wars of the Eastern Roman Empire on its Southwestern Asian and North African borders, and the beginnings of the Muslim conquests in the 7th century. These new armies were able to help states grow in size and become increasingly centralized. Thus, organized armies developed for the first time. While the bulk of military forces were still farmers, the society could portion off each year.
This allowed full-time ruling elites and military commanders to emerge. Beginning in Mesopotamia, states produced sufficient agricultural surplus. The development of first city-states, and then empires, allowed warfare to change dramatically. The difference between prehistoric and ancient warfare is more organization oriented than technology oriented. Ancient warfare is war that was conducted from the beginning of recorded history to the end of the ancient period.
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