Megan Lehr
January 19th 2016
Altenhof Period 1
The Han controlled their territory far more efficiently and effectively than Rome because it excelled in all categories; economics, politics and technology. Rome was fairly effective at maintaining control of their empire, but could not compare to the unification achieved in China or the sophisticated systems used to control their citizens and make all aspects of life more efficient.
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
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The Han controlled the distribution of iron, salt, coins and alcohol. Each of these items were important parts of society and needed by other territories. Silk was a major factor in their economic success. Silk was so highly sought after that one pound of silk was purchased by the Romans for a pound of gold. In 300 AD, Rome ran low on resources and in result, money lost its value while prices rose steeply. This proves that the Hans were more effective because they did not suffer from the same problems that Rome did. The Han not only controlled their own territory economically, but controlled most of Asia, India and Rome as
Though they were both able to trade due to their expansions and coasts, Rome did much more trade than Han China. Also, due to this vastness, both societies’ cultures were spread all over the world (which led to other civilizations forming) and their economies were boosted (which led to better conditions for the people).
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
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
The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty were both some of the greatest empires in their time. The fall of the Roman Empire was followed by the fall of the Han Dynasty. Three major things that contributed to these empires falling were the economic troubles these empires were going through at the time, taxation was a huge trouble for some of these empires, trade was also a big contribution, and being economically weak had an impact as well. Political reasons were a major of why these empires fell, both these empires had problems when it came down to their rulers, both these empires also split into two at a point, as well as the gap between the rich and the poor.
The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire both had a great influence not only on its people but the world as a whole. The two had similar and different methods of political control. Both ruled their people under a bureaucracy, they had civil servants to maintain their large empires, and their foundations were made of great and strong rulers. Aside from the similarities they also had several differences. Take China for example, they focused more on Confucianism and they had a Mandate of Heaven. Rome on the other hand used entertainment to distract and control the masses of its population.
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
As technology grew, it was viewed in many different ways. Both han and roman empires had state of the art technology developments and advancements, and they both adapted technology from other people. However, they had different views on technology. The Han empire had a more open and optimistic view on new technology, when on the other hand the Romans had more of a neutral look on technology.
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.
Although Han China and Imperial Rome have similarities in that they both use theology to explain their rule and they both use the militaries to control their peoples they differed in the degree of citizen participation in government. In Han China the theology of the Mandate of Heaven explained that emperors could be in charge of their empire as long as the empire was stable and prosperous in the eyes of those living in the empire. With the Mandate of Heaven the emperor explained that the gods respected the emperor's rule. But when things like natural disasters or crop failures begin to occur it signaled that the gods were no longer behind the emperor's rule and a change of power needed to take place. In Imperial Rome any religious beliefs it
The Han Dynasty's imperial army compares with the Roman Empires because both are "crucial in creating and sustaining the political structure in the face of domestic and foreign enemies" ("China and Rome"). The Han Dynasty overthrew the Qin Dynasty in hopes to unify China. By comparison, the Roman Empire conquered Italy by imperial power because the emperor wanted to expand Rome. These armies had significant influence because both empires were regularly affected by foreign generals seeking usurpation and authority ("China and Rome"). In family and society, family structure was characterized by patriarchy. The fathers were the head of the
Since most Roman emperors were military leader, they placed a very large emphasis on military conquest, and drained much of Rome’s resources. Their manpower in Rome itself was reduced, which meant for less protection for the people and their borders. While there were little numbers of militia in Rome, many factional disputes occurred, weakening the once invincible army. Eventually, with the gradual weakening of the Roman empire, germanic tribes took over, ending its reign. On the other hand, Han China did not place much emphasis on conquest since they already had a fairly stable political system. The Mandate of Heaven provided for them a structured dynastic rule/cycle, so they had no need for vast expansion. This, however, led to the same inability to maintain their borders from the nomadic peoples of the steppes. Internal conflicts against the methods of rule such as the Yellow Turban Rebellion weakened the state even further and aided in its fall. Both Imperial Rome and Han China, in possession of numerous advancements, such as Rome’s military tactics and China’s gunpowder, fell due to both internal and external factors caused by their respective political structures. The cost of maintaining their technological advancements in such large empires as well as their lack of focus in maintaining their borders all accounted for the empires’
The reason for this was to justify the political power by using the belief in Heaven. Therefore the people of the Han Dynasty obeyed and respected the emperor. For example, in the Book of Documents, it is stated that the Mandate of Heaven was given to the present emperor and his subjects are portrayed as respectful and loyal. This demonstrates that the Mandate of Heaven enforced the emperor’s power and that his subject were loyal and respectful. It is understandable that the author would use religion to justify the emperor’s political power because China had recently been in the Era of the Warring States and therefore wished to restore harmony.
The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire under Augustus share many strategies that made their empires successful. The most important of these similarities is the centralization of the government and the empires people. Both the Han and Augustus were focused on making a centralized empire by giving providences their own governments and sending government officials that the Han emperor had chosen or a governor Augustus had chosen. These city states still were under the
In around 200 BCE, imperial administrations began to develop and prosper in eastern and western Eurasia. Roman civilization was initially in the form of a republic in around 500 BCE, but it became more imperial in the first and second centuries of the common era. Following the Warring States Period of China, a period of stability was established by Qin Shi Huangdi in the third century BCE, and continued by the Han Dynasty until 200 CE. Due to being separated geographically, the Roman Empire and Han Empire had little contact with each other, allowing them to greatly influence their respective regions, and at the time, almost half of the human population. Although the governmental structure of the Han Empire included a more effective bureaucracy than that of the military-dependent Romans, both empires regarded administrative officials as divine. Giving their respective emperors a religious role increased the legitimacy and therefore authority of Roman and Han leaders, ultimately resulting in the unification and stability of both civilizations.
One factor they played a role in the fall of both empires was poor leadership in their empires. During the final days of Western Rome, there was no strong unifying leader in place due to the number of generals that would claim leader then be quickly killed off. Rome's military were only loyal to their generals, and when the generals would gather the power to overthrow the current rule, they were not well received by the public or the rest of the army. They did not unify they public and the government under strong rule, causing discord and distrust amongst the people. This lead to many revolts and needless violence that hurt the empire. Similarly, in the Han Dynasty, the lack of strong leaders caused people to become unsatisfied with their government. The people did not follow the will of their leaders and the aristocrats refused to pay taxes and support the government. Like Rome, this lack of poor leadership lead to revolts and needless violence that would ultimately hurt their citizens, military, and entirety of their empires.