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The Roman Empire and the Han Empire

Decent Essays

After the collapse of the Qin Dynasty in the third century BCE, the Han Empire emerged as a massive imperial power in the East. Its culture was compiled upon the teachings of Confucius and ancestor worship. Meanwhile in the west, the Romans solidified their authority as being a dominant force in the Mediterranean. Both the Roman Empire and the Han Empire were similar in their governments as they both supported a centralized government. On the other hand, they were different in the manner of how they dealt with foreigners and outside visitors. Although the Han Empire and the Roman Empire were alike, there are more differences between them than similarities. One difference between the two empires were their treatment with foreigners. The Hans believed that they had no need for them to be included within the Empire. However, this was not the case for the Romans. The Roman Empire would accept outsiders and tolerate them. The Empire treated the foreigners well- even to the extent of making them citizens. During this time however, the Romans did not have enough people to go to war. This led them into giving the barbarians jobs in the military. Soon, there were so many foreign soldiers to the degree that almost 70% of the entire army were barbarians. The reason why the Hans looked down upon the barbarians was because the Hans thought that the barbarians were inferior. One reason why the Hans thought that they were so superior was their belief of the Mandate of Heaven. The

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