A Comparison of the Decline of Han China and the Roman Empire

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to

Contributions of both the fall of the Han Dynasty and the Western Roman empire were very common. For example, both the Han Dynasty and the Western Roman empire fell because of economic issues such as corruption. The great empires also fell because of diseases such as small pox and malaria. In fact, when the Han Dynasty and the Western Roman empire traded goods, they also traded the diseases to one another. Along with economy corruption the Han Dynasty and the Western Roman empire also fell because of their corrupt leaders. In contrast, the Han Dynasty fell due to weak tax collectors, too many people and too little land, plus many revolts. Western Rome fell because of unemployment, not enough people to do necessary jobs, and the idea that the people could create their own government and take over the existing government.

In Rome Christianity was widely adopted, first by the people and then by the state. They believed that a Savior would come who was the Son of God, and he would save them from their sins. Alternatively, the Han Dynasty adopted Confucianism. This was not so much a religion as it was more a set of rules and guidelines for a person’s behavior, thoughts, and actions. They also fed their multiplying populations differently. Rome imported grain from Africa. Whereas, China built huge store houses, and filled them during years when there was plenty of food. Then when years of droughts and poor crops came, there was enough food to feed everyone. The economy was also kept stable during these years because they didn’t need to raise the price of grain, since they had stored away so much during the good years. These two countries differed in how they fed their populations because of their cities arrangements and as a result of their planning. Rome had very large cities with little room because there were so many people, which also meant there was no room to build store houses. Conversely, China built store houses early on and did not live in such close quarters with everyone else.

There are many differences and similarities between the Roman Empire and Han Dynasty like their technological achievements, social classes, and political leaders. In the Han Dynasty a leader’s actions were backed up by the Mandate of Heaven and if they lost the Mandate a new leader would come to power. However in early Rome there was a struggle between the elites and the plebeians; the majority of the population. Romans expanded on the concept of arches, created concrete, and aqueducts while Han used many canals. Both the Han and Romans broaden the use and creation of roads. The Han society was

Economic troubles were a major contribution to the fall of these empires. The economic troubles included taxation which was out of control at the time. In the Roman Empire, the taxes going up led to the poor being charged more and becoming unstable and unable to pay the taxes the government demanded. Which then led to the lower-class people to flee when rumored that the tax man was in the village. In the Han Dynasty also had tax money missing then would go to the lower- class and try to get their money but like in the Roman Empire the lower-class would also flee the countryside when rumored that the tax man was a certain village. This led to these empires to be financially short. Trade was also a contribution to the economic troubles these empires were having at the time. The Roman empire was affected by trade more than

Throughout history, there were various empires which developed into great, powerful forces. These empires expanded their lands to new places but, these empires ultimately came to an end. Amongst these great empires, were the Han and the Roman empire. Both were great in power but, due to political, social, and economic causes, they came to an end. Although they do partake in the equal shares of corruption and problems with the military, they also had fair shares of differences, regarding their declines. For example, the Han empire had decentralization and rebellion while Rome had shifted in interests and developed war issues. These differences and similarities are bits of history which help to comprehend why these empires are no longer

Both the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire became massive empires and dominated their region for a long time. In addition, both of these empires also had large impact on the world and extremely influenced the development of human civilization. Even in the modern times, the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire have been the major subjects of historians and scholars especially when dealing with the development of stable societies . Although both of these empires grew in massive size, their political, economic, social and religious developments are extremely different. The objective of this paper is to analyze and compare the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire in terms of political, economic, social and religious developments. It also opts to evaluate their overall impact to their

Due to the mass amounts of civil war taken place on Roman land, farming and agriculture greatly suffered. Land was over worked and overused causing the land to become infertile. Soon food shortages and diseases caused the population to decrease. From the cumulations of lost money to war and farming the economy weakened and inflation became high. The gap between the rich and poor gradually increased and the economy weakened. Between civil wars, high taxation, and food shortages, citizens lost a sense patriotism that once flourished throughout society.

Classical Chinese Empires and the Roman Empire were both a big political power in their times. Chinese governments had a centralized government, same with the Roman’s. Both empires were very scared of their dynasties spreading out. This happened to the Greek-City State Athens, they were very decentralized and Athens spread out to make new villages. This caused Athens to eventually fall because they couldn’t take the power of the Roman Empire. Both were very successful and they accomplished many great achievements with the many leaders they both had. Innovation similarities were very similar as well because both empires invented and carried

To begin with, one of the main problems of the Roman Empire was their economic problems and corruption. For example, in an excerpt of a historical text written by Priscus, which was a Roman ambassador to the Huns in 449 C.E, he reported a conversation he had with a former citizen whose land had been conquered by the Huns. In their conversation the former Roman citizen stated, “ The conditions of [Roman] subjects in time of peace [is worse than war]...taxes are very severe, and unprincipled men inflict injuries on others… A [wealthy lawbreaker] … is not punished for his injustice, while a poor man … undergoes the legal penalty… The climax of misery is to have to pay in order to obtain justice…” This supports that one main problem that ended the Roman empire was economic problems and corruption because it shows that if rich people in Rome committed a crime they would only have to bribe their way out of trouble while on the other hand poor people will have to face their consequences which is unfair so when they got invaded by the Huns they decided that it was best if they conquered than to join the military to help their empire. In addition another economic problem is that the the Roman Emperors had to pay their own soldiers to stay loyal which lead to emperors having to mint more coins which is further supported by BrainPop which states, “Roman emperors often bribed their soldiers with money to make sure they remained loyal. And when emperors didn’t have enough to pay their troops, they would mint cheaper coins. This caused the value of Roman money to plummet.” This also supports that one important cause that caused the Roman Empire to decline was the corruption and economic problems because in order for a empire or a civilization to function efficiently, they need to respect all people

The Tang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties all shared a similar factor when their civilization declined. Heavy taxation resulted in the peasants’ not being able to pay. In the Tang Dynasty, the increase in taxes resulted with the peasants’ uprising. The Ming Dynasty faced a monetary crisis with great deficits. The Yuan Dynasty had to face the difficulty of paying taxes. This was the main and biggest problem between all three dynasties. To have fixed this, I would have advised the Chinese emperor’s to create an organized system of government where money would flow without any disruptions. More jobs would have to be created to help the peasants’ pay off their debt better. Additionally, I think it would have been better if the rich were taxed more than

Economic difficulties also played an important role in the fall of Rome. Heavier taxes were necessary to support the government and military. The middle class fell into poverty as farmers left their land and moved to larger cities. This poverty, mixed with disease and war, caused a massive population decline and the wealth of the Roman Empire dwindled. Rome’s imperialism eventually reached a full stop in the second century. This decreased the amount of slaves, land, and war riches that Rome could

In the Western Roman Empire the cornerstone of their economy was agriculture, taxation of agriculture and the imposed taxes by wars; this is what kept the Roman empire afloat. Both the Eastern and the Western Empire (they were divided into two sides) had acquired such a large amount of land that through these fiscal means they were able to stay a great power for so long. After time the taxes progressively became a very strong burden on the people of the roman republic and it hurt those that were poor the most. With the poor making up most of the population of the Western Roman Empire this led to the weakening of the economic status of the Empire. This taxation not only affected the poor but also the farmers that held up the agricultural framework

High taxes and other economic problems were another fatal flaw leading to the fall of Roman Empire. Legionnaires wanted higher salaries because they were not getting as much booty, they threatened to not protect the Roman Empire unless they had higher salaries. As a result taxes were raised to meet the demands of the legions and the common citizens payed even though they had no money. Another problem was that Rome was importing more than exporting and that created debt. Plus when Rome did export many times pirates invaded and stole

One of the many economic causation's of the fall of the Roman empire was the increase in taxes to support bureaucracy and the army. In the crash of Rome a