Similarities Between Han China And Imperial Rome

The two great civilizations of Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E. - 476 C.E.) and Han China (206 B.C.E.- 220 C.E.) were both two of the greatest civilizations ever built.In addition to the great advancements these two dynasties made, the governments of these civilizations each had ways of maintaining political control over their subjects. Although the two dynasties ways of political control were very similar, there were also major differences. The use of centralized government and military were both political power similarities among both civilizations. A major difference was that Han China was based on Confucianism, which emphasized the family unit and order while Rome was based on law and order. Another major difference between the two nations was their citizenship policies. These differences and similarities are what made these nations what they were.

In Rome, the highest positions in the government were held by two leaders, who ruled the Roman Republic. A senate composed of citizens elected these leaders. This is different than the Han’s distribution of power because they believed in no citizen involvement in their government. The Han had a central control or supreme monarch which had total control over the people and gave citizens no influence towards leadership, unlike in Rome. They created social classes to bring together the people of the empire. In China, the leaders used a group of experienced bureaucrats while in Rome land was given to

In China, bureaucrats were appointed by the emperor, in which the emperor would usually choose aristocrats. In Imperial Rome, the upper class could influence the political structure. However, the aristocrats were not the only ones who were able to participate

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were perhaps two of the greatest empires of their time. The former was located in China as well as other parts of East Asia and the latter spanned across Europe, Northern Africa, and the Mediterranean. Both empires made many advances and grew to be very influential. Despite their distance and cultural differences, the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty shared several characteristics. Although they differed in how they used their colonies, the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty shared common features in their imperial administrations that helped both empires remain stable; both were monarchies and the monarchs of both empires justified their rules.

Since the dawn of civilizations, empires have risen and crumbled across the globe. While the technology and means of rule has evolved immensely in the past 5,000 odd years, the structures and methods have remained much the same. Of the countless great empires of the past, two stand out as exemplary models of how to obtain and subsequently maintain an empire of millions. The imperial Han Dynasty of China and the Ancient Roman Empire are the epitome of empires, ruling for roughly 400 years each and conquering what was then, their world. By far the most interesting idea when considering the two nations is their incredible similarities in methodology, despite a lack of interaction. The parallels between the isolated empires and the questions they

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

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

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).

As you can see the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire possessed many differences both politically and through their accomplishments. That being said, they also shared an extensive variety of similarities. They varied in government, but

The Roman and Han Empires were among the greatest empires in history. The Han prospered in 202 BCE - 220 C.E and the Roman Empire in 27 BCE- 476 C.E. By the early second century CE, Rome controlled the entire Mediterranean coastline and had to use military force to set up borders against their adversaries, the Huns. During the Han, colonies were established in Korea and military campaigns were mounted in order to control their neighbors, the Xiongnu. Both of these empires had similar rises by using strong military power and expansion, which helped them both strive in economic trade. Although there are many similarities in the reasons that contributed to the rise of these empires, there are also several contrasting reasons for their decline. These two empires differ because Rome allowed plague to end their empire while the Han kept ruling.

Rome and Han were similar in terms of military techniques and methods. The similarity was the way the two kingdoms had imperial administrations. Both Rome and Han established their territories through defending and fighting for their land. This can be proved from the way the Romans used various legions that had heavy infantry in the warfare. The Han dynasty had the same legions which they used in their warfare. Each legion had thousands of soldiers and they were sent to the battlefield in order to fight.

The Roman and Chinese Empires both absorbed foreign religions, were centralized, had large populations and had a major impact on the environment. Although, the Chinese were much less culturally diverse than the Roman Empire. After the collapse of both the Han and Roman Empires, the Chinese were able to " reassemble under the Sui" (page 140) but, the Roman Empire was never "successfully reestablished" (page 140). One of the major reasons the Chinese were able to recentralize their government was because of the "cultural homogeneity of Chinese civilization." (page 140)

To begin with, both Imperial Rome and Han China were ruled under a bureaucracy. In Rome the emperor was the ultimate authority. The

The two Empires had different originality. Han Dynasty was formed from earlier dynastic activities in classical China. The main aim for them was to restore political order in the dynasty in China. Roman Empire was formed with the aim of controlling of aristocratic landlords. It was politically motivated, with a hope of having the entire universe to be under its control.

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.