The Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E, - 220 C.E.) and the Roman Empire (31 B.C.E – 476 C.E.) were both very powerful and influential forces during their time. These two empires have numerous similarities and differences between their political and military structure. For starters, these empires differed in how to rule; the Han Dynasty had a single emperor who made all the decisions, whereas the Romans had a democratic government who gave power to the people. (Ch. 8, Ch. 11) Both of these empires lasted approximately 400 years and had enormous populations. (China: Ch. 8 pg. 159, Rome: Ch.11 pg. 229) The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire had completely different origins. The Han dynasty rose directly from earlier dynasties in China, by replacing a period of disorder under the Zhou dynasty, which replaced the Qin dynasty and dealt with the Warring States with a …show more content…
The Han Dynasty strived to further Confucianism as a means of teaching certain values in the elite, and if possible, other social classes. (Ch. 8 pg. 160) The emperors stressed a tradition of emphasizing their divine royal power through a Mandate of Heaven. Mandate of Heaven stated that a dynasty could only rule if approved by the God. They used this mandate to prove to the people they were the favorites and could do no wrong, and if failed he would be overthrown. Dynasties after that would rule by saying the previous dynasty lost their mandate. (Ch. 5 pg. 93) Finally, the Han Dynasty introduced the first bureaucracy system, in which the central government appointed representatives in the district. (Ch. 8 pg. 159) Rome had its own methods of accomplishing political integration. Many Roman writers were yearning to chant the admirations of the rulers and the imperial system. Rome developed a more basic bureaucracy than the Chinese, but the Romans placed more value on the legal system and the rule of law across the empire. (Ch. 11 pg.
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
Comparative Essay Two classical civilizations, the Han dynasty and Imperial Rome, both demonstrated evident methods of political control. Although the Han Dynasty demonstrated political control through the means of a bureaucracy and Confucianism, Imperial Rome portrayed political control through an aristocracy and a polytheistic religion. In spite of their differences, these two civilizations shared characteristics of political control, including the use of pre-existing class structures and the ruling of the empire by a single leader. To begin with, the Han dynasty had a single emperor and a group of bureaucrats. The bureaucrats served to advise the empire and played a key role in running the empire through executive privileges.
The first reason that the Romans and Han were similar in the way that they maintained political control was because they both used a strong military. A strong military showed leadership by the ruler by enforcing the law and protecting his land. In the case of the Han, they defended their land from multiple attacks from enemies such as the Xiongnu which showed their strength and power over the people which then led to them having great political control. On the other hand, with the Romans, they had a great leadership role from Caesar who was however back stabbed no pun intended. However, while Caesar was in control he ruled an army
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 the republic, people were able to vote for or against senators, consuls, and important issues. There were different levels of government, legislative, administrative, and executive, that checked each other and kept almost everything in balance. The Han government, on the other hand, gave less power to the people and their government was less consistent. The emperor had executive power, but some emperors were unsuccessful due to power being passed through families. From around 32 B.C.E. TO 9 C.E., there were unprepared rulers whose inexperience opened up a window for Wang Mang, a Confucian soldier, to gain power and end the Former Han Dynasty. While he was in the midst of restoring order to the land, wealthy rebels assassinated him and within 2 years after the death of Wang Mang, the old imperial family rose back into power and started the Later Han Dynasty that thrived until old problems
Two of the most feared and Powerful ancient Empires, The Han and the Ancient Roman Empire are considered some of the greatest of all time. While the Han Empire may not be as popular as Ancient Rome, in Western Civilization, both have made an impact on today’s societies. While the government and the decline of the two are the biggest similarities, while the social construct of the two are the main differences. The Han Dynasty went from 206BCE to 220 CE, and Ancient Rome went from 753BCE to 476CE.
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 and Roman Empires were extremely important empires during the time of their existence. The Han Empire began around 206 BCE and ended at around 220 CE. The Roman Empire began at around 27 BCE and broke apart into two halves, the West falling in 476 and the East collapsing in 1453. The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire have different outlooks on technology, the Han Dynasty view technology as a practical application used to ease the workload of people, while the Roman Empire views certain technology as needed, despite the creator.
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.
The Roman Empire is still known today as one of history’s most powerful period. Rome government had stick rules and policies. The Roman government at this point was known as the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic was controlled by the roar Rome. Bureaucracy was ran throughout the region, but Rome did not want this nor could they afford it. However, they did allow small cities to run a lower level of government. The exercise of indirect rule thus became a basic principle of imperial government. The business of local administration and jurisdiction was delegated to the existing communities of city or tribe. This type of structure was deemed to be a weakness to some historians because of the consequences. Consequences that allow a third level government to enforce the emperor’s rules. Because of the expansion of the territory, this was the only reasonable way for it to function normally. The empire was a "commonwealth of cities" which acted as economic and cultural of the Roman world and were integrated into the administrative system as local foci of government. This imperial ruling was first implemented by Rome. It came about because of social trends and not the Roman strategic policies that was often changed by Romanized upper class citizens. These upper classman brought about firmness throughout the land with their strategic and educated planning.
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 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.
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.
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.