In and around former empire (4)
I believe the answer is:
inca
'former empire' is the definition.
(historical South American empire)
'in and around' is the wordplay.
'and' says to put letters next to each other.
'around' becomes 'ca' (circa).
'in'+'ca'='INCA'
(Other definitions for inca that I've seen before include "Pre-conquest South American Indian" , "Member of old Peruvian Indian race" , "Pre-conquest Peruvian" , "Tongue" , "Ancient Peruvian like Cain" .)