Comparing the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire Essay

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Han Dynasty and Roman Empire have many cultural aspects including religious, geographical, and political similarities that can be compared, though many differences are also widespread during this era. Though Roman and Han political structures, both emphasized bureaucracies, they came to them quite differently. Through many amounts of expansion, both societies spread culture and earned money, though expansion was eventually their downfall. Their religions differed greatly, 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. One might ask, Which civilization yielded the best

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

Empires on their outside may seem very different and unique. However, when you get down to their fundamentals, you begin to truly realize how similar they are. Just as the imposing pine tree and humble tomato plant may seem vastly different, their start from a lowly seed and craving for water and sunlight to survive unifies them. Such is also true with the Han and Roman empires. While key differences may be present, their social structures, influencing religions, and causes of collapse unify them.

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire vary in their political development and achievements. The Roman’s developed two different codes of law, one that applied to citizens and another that applied to non-citizens. Rome’s trade routes were built using stone, which made it very easy for merchants to travel from one city to another over a vast amount of land. China, however, used a single code of law for all their citizens and conquered peoples, and used a long and treacherous trail in their trade; that lead to the Middle East. Even though these two civilizations held many differences, they also shared rulers who personally oversaw their governments to prevent numerous dilemmas and used expansive trade routes to build up their economies and

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

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.

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

Han dynasty emerged into power back in 221BCE after the fall of Qin dynasty 206BCE. They were the original pioneers when it comes to political systems and structure of the society that lasted more than 2000 years in China. On the other hand, the Roman Empire controlled the western Mediterranean and they had various advancements in technology and science. The Romans had different engineering accomplishments considered to be different from those of the Han kingdom. They formed the basis of the establishment of the western legal codes. This research is aimed towards analysis the similarities and the differences between the Han dynasty and the Roman Empire. The consequences of their differences are also analyzed in this research.

Numerous land-based empires and regional states had existed before 3rd century BC. However, none of these empires could be compared to the Han Dynasty in China and the Imperial Rome. The cultural identity built during the Han Dynasty such as the family-organized ancestor worship and culture centered on the Classic Confucian teachings had been influential for the development of China for several centuries . On the other hand, the Roman Empire had shown their authority over the Mediterranean Region and introduced the concept of “citizen” which influenced the development of states even after its fall . In general, both of these empires became powerful and influential forces during their times.

The collapse of the Han and the Roman Empires during the classical era has some similar factors on the social and economic aspects, namely the decline in the trade and the widespread epidemic disease. However, each faced unique factors contributing to their collapse. In the Han Empire, the weak emperors didn't have a proper position as a emperor while the influence of army generals rise up gradually, whereas Rome’ ineffective later emperors concerned more with a life of pleasure than a desire to rule wisely.

Even though the Qin dynasty was seen as barbaric and brutal, the Han did implement some of the old Qin institutions into their new government. One of these institutions were the Commanderies. These were administrative divisions of land in which a governor would be appointed by the government and run it as the government or emperor wants it to be ran. This is institution is very useful for knowing how many people you have. When war comes and you need to draft able bodied men to go fight, you will know just how many you will be able to get. Another reason would be for tax purposes. It is also very useful to regulate the trade and growing of certain crops. Even more in depth than that the government can control what the children in the commanderies are taught and what propaganda they are seeing. Qin law is another thing that the Han used from the former dynasty. One example of this practice was the fact that women could bring up cases against men even though the women did not have the same rights as men. Punishments were also

The Qin and the Han are two equally important dynasties that greatly expanded in their reign, although both the Qin and the Han had its own ideas on expansion. In fifteen years, the Qin Dynasty united the seven warring states. Emperor Qin’s rule resulted in the isolation of China from foreigners and brought upon strict rules and the removal of freedom. Under Emperor Qin’s rule, any action people took which angered the ruler could result in harsh punishment. Consequently, people were unhappy and often suffered from poverty. On the other hand, The Han dynasty lasted 426 years and managed to conquer more land, which gradually expanded and formed what China now is today. While isolation from the outside world was still present

Even though the Qin Dynasty deprived the civilization of education, it created a strong bureaucratic system that limited feudal power and developed a cooperative population. Each Warring state followed a different political system, before it was conquered by Qin. The First Emperor, Qin Shi Huang, felt it was necessary to legitimize his power to unify the city states and for a cooperative population. In the Qin Dynasty, “the institution of emperor had a special meaning in China as the repository of imperial legitimacy” (Feng 2013, 249). In other words, the first emperor was given the title of being a “mythical ruler” that had godly powers and is the righteous leader of the empire based on the Mandate of Heaven