Han Dynasty vs. Imperial Rome Both Imperial Rome (27 B.C. – 476 A.D) and the Han Dynasty (206 B.C – 220 A.D) were two great civilizations that were significantly alike to each other. Both had a government that were based off of a monarchy; two rulers with absolute power. And with that power both would order a tremendously large work force to build large projects. However, the two rulers chose to run their government differently. Rome used a Republic style of governing while the Han used legalism. The Han’s government would also be the judge, jury, and executioner of any court issues, whereas Rome would have to get approval from the senate before anything could be done. 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. …show more content…
Both the Han and Romans had a huge labor force that they would use to erect large projects. Rome had an enormous slave labor force that was used to build canals for water irrigation and roads for transportation and trade. 1/3 of the population of Rome were slaves. (Around 19~ Million) They consisted of Greeks, and people from Mesopotamia, North Africa, and Macedonia. Han too used a large labor force. The emperor would send civilians, around 300,000, to help build temples, palaces, and improve on the Great Wall. The emperor would do so to keep the civilians busy and not worry about any political problems going on. Both of the Nations used the force to help build up their city and improve
Han China and Rome are actually very similar in their geographical conquests. First of all, both civilizations were the largest and most expansive in their areas. Rome stretched from Spain, England, and France to Mesopotamia and North Africa. The Han dynasty expanded to Korea, china, and central Asia. These huge areas allowed a feeling of power and more economic stability, but also had a few downfall's. Even though the Roman Empire had close to 60 million people in the lands, the population began to dwindle by the end of its empire, they could no longer supply enough people to protect its borders, so they had to turn to outside sources for its military. These outside sources had distrusting loyalties, so, Rome’s borders were not so well protected and eventually fell to complete invasion. Han Dynasty fell to its fate. Both the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire's weakened so much that they both crippled under the weight of outside invasions. A huge difference between the two civilizations, however, was their level of isolation. Being in China, the Han Dynasty was on the east side and was much more isolated than Rome, which was a peninsula and quite open to everywhere. Though
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
Two of the earliest empires in Chinese history were the Qin Dynasty (221- 206 BCE) and the Han Dynasty (202 BCE- 220 CE). They both successfully unified the vast nation of China. Both Empires allowed government to not only influence politics, but also economy, philosophy, and social life. The empires ruled China distinctively differently. The Qin was a very fierce and brutal dynasty, while the Han dynasty tried to reduce the repression of the people brought by the Qin Dynasty. They also both used two distinctive government styles, the Qin used Legalism, a style based on based on effective institutional structures, and the Han used Huang-Lao which combined legalism with Daoist and Confucian ideals. While both empires and schools of thought had their strengths and weaknesses, both subsequently fell.
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
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
To begin with, both Imperial Rome and Han China were ruled under a bureaucracy. In Rome the emperor was the ultimate authority. The
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.
In terms of construction, the Romans and Han in China had similar constrictions in terms of roads, bridges and the development of water systems. This helped in strengthening their economies. The roman had road systems which expanded more than 400,000 km and they used them in order to carry out trading activities (Rosenstein). The roman had built aqueducts in their engineering systems which brought a constant flow of water to the various cities and towns. Similarly, Han in China built massively fortified roads for the sake of trading and walls for the sake of fortification. The Great Wall of China was a proof of the existence of the Han dynasty and their form of defense.
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 Roman Empire and Han Dynasty in China are two kingdoms that, despite the geographical difference between them, managed to achieve great success and failure in equal measure. Both were characterized by imperial dynasties that were headed by the emperors and they held large territories. Both of these kingdoms faced various challenges after their formation that became a major stabling block, but due to good leadership, they both managed to overcome and achieve success. Nevertheless, due to different reasons, both the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty declined and fell. This paper
One necessary part of any large empire like the Roman empire or the Han dynasty is an organized power structure. Both the Romans and the Han had similar power structures in some functions, but they differed in ideologies and emphasis on roles of the power structure which accounts for the differences in success of integration. The ruler of the Roman and Han empires were emperors who had absolute control over every aspect of the empire. For the success of these two empires, a bureaucracy was
For a long time only the Patricians had a say in Roman government through the Senate and Consuls. Eventually Plebeians were given the Tribunes as a way for them to give their input into the Roman government. This was much different from the government in the Han Dynasty. In China at this time the government was based off of the Mandate of Heaven. This stated that the ruler had a specific way to live and rule his empire and if he failed, he would lose this mandate. Many emperors were overthrown and the new emperors would rule by saying that the last had lost the Mandate of Heaven. The Han government was also very close-knit with teachings, especially of Confucian. Some of these teachings included that rulers would levy light taxes, avoid wars, support education and encourage harmony and cooperation throughout his empire. This is important because it went hand in hand with the Mandate of Heaven and if a Ruler wasnt fulfilling his duties as a good Confucian or emperor then he would lose the throne. The Roman and Han empires equally strived economically in trade. However, decline in trade affected Rome more than Han China. Many Chinese communities were self sufficient, and most trade was carried out between communities. The Roman’s economy relied heavily on trade, and as trade routes became compromised, pirates and bandits began stealing goods from merchants creating a decline in trade and profits. Less trade reduced the amount of
Though separated by immense distance, Imperial Rome and Han China paralleled each other in many ways. As vast empires, both maintained a large standing army to stabilize their borders and to conquer neighboring territories. Inwards, to facilitate communication and transportation, these empires built complex road system, connecting once isolated cities across their lands. Yet, in China, the ruler was seen as a son of god, if not god himself, while in Rome, the rulers had to fight for his position, promoting a ruler cult and to justify their reign. Prosperous and affluent, the Roman Empire and Han China were attractive targets of wealth-hungry nomadic tribes surrounding the empires.
The Roman Empire existed between 31 B.C.E to 476 C.E. and the Han Dynasty occurred 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. They existed at same times but were on opposite ends of Eurasia. They both had regions that were ruled by either kings, viceroys or governors in the name of the emperor. They were both similar in slavery, government, and their downfall. They also had their differences in religion, military, and center of power.