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Comparing Classical Athens and Han China Essay

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The differences between Classical Athens and Han China were major and distinctive. The background information, government, values of the individual, and art of each society show how differently each empire developed. Within the background information of both Athens and Han China you can automatically notice evident differences between the two. The first document shows the maps of both empires side by side. The Han Empire is isolated and much bigger than Athens's city-state Attica, which is a mere 50 miles long, while the Han Empires stretches to over 2400 miles long. Just their differences in size show how the Empires would have developed differently Since Athens is smaller the people are closer together so therefore it would have been …show more content…

These people were barely 2% of the population, while 90% were peasant farmers who stood by and let themselves be governed. This shows that in Athens most of the men had a voice and were able to choose what went on in their government while in Han China they were governed by one emperor and his many officials. This supports that because of all the people living in Han China, it would be less likely for them to form a democracy. The authors of the charts are trying to show that the total populations of both empires were made up of mostly people who didn't count, but more people had a say in Athens than they did in Han China. Due to their different geographical locations and population sizes the two empires formed very different government systems. The fourth document is a speech by Pericles given to the people of Athens. He speaks very highly of the democracy in Athens to show Athens is superior to other states. He is proud that the city is governed by the people rather than the government, and describes how admirable the structure of their government is. Of course, he is from Athens which would show why he is so captivated by it, but this speech basically shows that the first democracy is working out and the people are happy with it. Document 5 describes the makeup of the Athens's form of government, which the author believes was the first true democracy in history. He believes the Athenians governed themselves. Most importantly, this document shows that in

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