Essay on Ap World Similarities and Differences China and Rome

When comparing Han China and Classical Rome, many political, geographical, and religious similarities can be found, though many differences are also prevalent. Though Roman and Han political structures both emphasized bureaucracies, they came to them quite differently. Through copious amounts of expansion, both societies spread culture and earned money, though expansion was eventually their downfalls. Their religions differed immensely, with Rome emphasizing polytheism and Han China focusing on Confucianism. The differences and similarities between these two civilizations are to be discussed in this essay.

Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around some form of imperial administration and Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.-476 C.E.) and Han China (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) were no different in this sense. Both civilizations had a network of cities and roads, with similar technologies that catalyzed cultural amalgamation and upgraded the standard of living, along with comparable organizational structures. Additionally, both civilizations had problems managing their borders and used similar tactics for defense. However, the Chinese Emperor was interpreted as a God while the Roman Emperor was a lugal, or big man, who had to fight not only to gain power, but to push through his initiatives. The similarities and differences

Although the foundation of both empires was built upon political integration, their organization of government differed. The Han Dynasty’s centralized power and administration was based on a bureaucratic system while the Roman Empire’s imperial power was based on a one-man sovereign. In order to improve Chinese society, which was under tyrannical rule under the Qin Dynasty, the Han Empire centralized their government with the synthesis between an imperial family and the new scholar-gentry class under a bureaucratic system. By securing power to overthrow the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang provided lands to those military supporters who helped with the task. From the land grants given, the royal families and supporters were entitled

Although Han China and Rome shared similarities in their techniques of imperial administration though military conquest and engineering’s aid toward the economy, they differed in their approach to land distribution.

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

The Han controlled their territory more effectively than Rome because they prevented peasant revolts, leaders were respected and positive morals and values were taught to future political leaders to prevent corruption. After the harsh rule of Shi Huangdi ended, the Han took power and decreased the amount of taxes and made punishments less harsh. Because of this, peasants were less likely to revolt. Also, the Mandate of Heaven states that emperors are divine Sons of Heaven. This meant that people would follow their leaders because they believe that they have superior knowledge. Before anyone got a job

Han China (206 B.C.E -220C.E) and Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E-476 C.E) empires have both left big marks on our world and the way we view it today. Throughout history, these empires tried to create something that stood out. Though both were in different parts of the world, they both seemed to run their government in the same type of fashion with a few differences that made their empire the best for them. Although, they had a difference in slavery roles, they seem to fall under the similarities of leadership styles, social orders, and world influence.

The Han and the Romans were both ruled by one man, and that man would have absolute power over anything that could or would happen. When elites of Imperial Rome decided that Julius Caesar should be removed from this position, Julius used his own army to attack the people of Rome. People began to abhor Julius and his doings. Just like Julius Caesar, emperors of the Han had absolute power. Despite there being a king and governors of country inside of the dynasty’s region, they would always have to abide to the emperors rules.

The Roman Empire and the Han dynasty both were two very advanced societies. Though the Han dynasty was founded slightly after the Roman Empire they both lasted approximately 400 years. The Roman Empire consisted of two classes of citizens the Patricians and Plebeians. This civilization consisted of a population of nearly fifty million people which was similar to the amount of people in the Han dynasty. The two civilizations both were exposed to new religions, though they were engaged in two different types of religions. One similarity between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty is both had different levels of social class. At the top of the Roman Empire was the imperial family, then the senators, equestrians, aristocrats, magistrates, merchants, soldiers, artisans, manual laborers, freed slaves and slaves. The bottom of the Roman Empire’s social class list was referred to as the untouchables. The Han dynasty consisted of four classes, at the top was the emperor, then the nobles, government officials, followed by peasants, artisans, merchants, and slaves similar to the Roman

A similarity between the fall of the Roman and Han Dynasty Empires were corrupt politicians. The Roman legal system was a centralized government with a strict set of laws. As time went on, the government slowly began to fill with corrupt and unethical administrators. Soon enough, this caused chaos and uncertainty in the Roman people, which caused its decline. Similar to the Roman empire, the Han began to have

Both Han China and Imperial Rome lasted approximately 400 years and spent many of those years expanding their empire through many similar and different methods of political control. For example a similarity between the two empires was that they both were patriarchal and saved political roles for men. A difference between the two empires was that both of their governments were structured differently, Han China’s structure was based on Confucianism values, as Rome emphasized a legal system. Both Han China and Imperial Rome had strong political control which led to their growth two of the greatest empires in the Classical Age. They grew at their own pace, but they shared similar methods of political control.

Han Dynasty (206 BC-220 AD) expanded much like the Roman Republic (509 BC- 27 AD) and both profitable in the process. Both relied on taxes levied and slaves for manual labor to support the economy. The Roman Republic did not have lineage when it came how to “rule” like the Hans and their predecessors. The Hans ruled with an aristocracy and the Roman Republic had a bureaucracy, but both focused on having a strong military. The two empires were both affected by religion, the Hans with Confucianism, which they would adapt in order the reaffirm their “hold” on their people. The Roman Republic was affected by Christianity, however its communication amongst its believers challenged Roman authority.

Both Empires had a centralized government but The Han Dynasty had more control over the government because the government officials were highly educated and strictly tested which in Rome the government officials were elected by citizens. In The Roman Empire, emperors “tried to create an ideology to bolster their position but their position was cultivated by Augustus” (Strayer). On the other hand, Han emperors “…stands in sharp contrast to the clear-cut Chinese belief in

These differences are composed of slavery, government testing, the downfall of the empires, and how to endorse the role of emperor. Headmost is slavery. Slavery existed in both Han China and Imperial Rome, but in Rome slavery played a much bigger role in society and government. With in Rome, there were times when the slaves occupied almost 35% of the total population. The slaves here were forced to do much of the farming and hard laboring. In Han China, slaves accounted for less than 1% of the total population. Slaves here were not forced to do anything because they would sign a contract with their boss saying what they can and can’t do. Both the Han and Roman Empire’s people had to be tested if they wanted to be able to participate in the government, but their tests were different. In Han China, people had to pass the Civil Service Exam and In Imperial Rome, it was a necessity to pass the Equities to be in the government. Next, both of these empires had different fates. Han China had corruption within the government and epidemic diseases like smallpox, measles, and possibly even the bubonic plague which killed many people. While these diseases traveled with traders and merchants across the Silk Road they did eventually find its way to Rome too, but that is not what ended the empire. Rome became so big it was too difficult to manage so it had to be split up. After emperor Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium in 312 C.E. the Roman Empire finally came to it’s end in 476 C.E. after many years of decline. Finally, Han China and Imperial Rome had different ways for their people to assume the task of being emperor. In Han China, people were born into being the empire. In more understanding terms, if a someone is born as a boy, and his father was the emperor, he would become the emperor when he became of age. In the Roman Empire however, the

Just after the significant transition from B.C. to C.E. a mystical dynasty from China referred to as the Han subsided. Likewise, the Roman Empire which was quite powerful at one point, collapsed in this same era. The way these organizations collapsed can be compared in many ways but they also contrast in unique ways. One way they compare is they were both invaded by an outside territory. The Han dynasty had trouble with the Xiongnu invading, and the Roman Empire was invaded by the Huns who were led by Attila at the time. Also, the Han Dynasty found it difficult to enforce taxes on the wealthy, and in the Roman Empire the wealthy elites were not required to pay taxes either. The fall of these nations can be compared in a lot of ways but there are also many differences. A main difference was in the Han Dynasty they had the Yellow Turban Rebellion where there was an internal rebellion that was created by the peasants, but in the Roman Empire most conflict came externally, they didn’t really have a group of people rebelling. The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two organizations that collapsed around the same time and the way they collapsed can be compared and contrasted in many ways.