Comparing and Contrasting the Han and Roman Civilizations

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Around the years 200 B.C.E two great civilizations emerged as powerful and influential Empires. The Han civilization and the Roman Civilization. Both civilizations contributed to the ancient world, with revolutionary technologies, literature, mathematics, and extensive trade. Although these were powerful nations, the causes of their decline were quite similar. Inept rulers, social discordance, and hostile incursions, are some of the numerous factors that brought about their inevitable downfall.

Both the Hans and the Romans diverged from prior civilizations. The Han came about after overthrowing the Qin Dynasty who were incompetent in the later years of the Dynasty. The Qin Dynasty was highly centralized actuating through legalist ideals, hence the government were oppressive towards their people. Thus, the dynasty collapsed due to internal mutiny. Liu Bang took over and established the Han Dynasty. To the west in what is now the Italian peninsula, a cultural group called Etruscans ruled over the Roman people and soon the monarch government was deposed by the aristocracy. This is how both civilizations were born. Both sprouted from other governments. However China was much more different since the stretch of land had been greatly developed by the preceding Dynasties( Shang, Zhou, and Qin), where as the Romans commenced in just the city of Rome.

Military might was possessed by both the Han and the Romans. For this reason the blooming nations were able to conquer ample territory, thus procuring significant wealth. Chinese territory expanded into Central Asia, Korea, and Indochina. One main contributor to the expansion of China was Emperor Wudi (141-195 B.C.E) who conducted military campaigns. The same occurred in Rome. The Roman ...

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...aused the Roman Empire to disintegrate and fragmentize into small Germanic kingdoms, around 425 -476 B.CE. However, this occurred only in the west. The Byzantine Empire remained intact, preserving Roman culture and traditions. After the Han Dynasty subsided, the Chinese endured political decentralization, but the Confucian ideologies, that were an integral part of their culture, were never abandoned.

The Han dynasty and the Roman Civilization were the superpowers of the world at that time. They influenced the world and left an indelible mark in the ancient world. Traces of their contributions are ubiquitous, ranging from the invention of paper to the Latin language. Both shared similarities and grew due to a strong government and profitable trade. Yet due to numerous factors, both Empires pulverized under intense pressure and never returned to their former glory.

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