Comparison Of Augustus And The Great Wall Of China

China was one of the oldest civilization that still lives on into the present, whereas Rome began as a humble village in what is Italy and grew to rule the Mediterranean world. As the first emperors of two different countries, Qin Shi Huang united China in 221 BC and Augustus founded the Roman Empire two centuries later. Even though they ruled over different part of the world without knowing the existence of each other, they had both opened a new chapter of history and the legacy they left for the future generations and mark, had shaped the world we lived into this day. Ying Zheng and Augustus, the two important characters in the history, though different in era, had both improved the world and had a far-reaching influence on not only the past

but our nowadays and future as well. Their method of leading the empire was drastically different and immensely comparable; however, they both accomplished significant achievements that helped the development of the civilizations and built a strong military. These two influential emperors, so resemblant in experience yet contrasting in so many ways, putting them at opposite ends of the spectrum.

What was the decision that caused China and Rome to take a vastly different path, and what was the contribution they made that had written a glorious page on the history book?

Emperor Qin and Augustus were the first emperors of a new era of an empire, yet far apart in how they governed the country. They both had marvelous leadership which led their civilizations to its peak, but that is where the similarities end. To start, Emperor Qin ruled the country in a ruthless way and followed strict Legalist code. The Great Wall of China was known as the largest crematory that cost thousands of Chinese lives. During the construction of this project, he not only raised tax that most of the citizens could not afford but also forced all of the able-bodied men to build and anyone who refused does so on pain of death. They were taken away from their loved ones, leaving family behind to fend for themselves. Elders wondered if they shall ever see their sons before their lives were over, women became widows who had to suffer the pain of lovesickness and children needed to undertake all of the burdens. The builders worked continuously with only a little of food and no warm clothing, there was only toil without rest. Hundreds of people died each day and

the wilds were covered with corpses. When Qin Shi Huang captured the territory, he castrated their citizens and buried soldiers alive. He used cruel ways to torture people instead of taking pity on them after they lost their homeland. Emperor Qin also enforced extremely strict laws that followed the philosophy of Legalism. In the Qin Dynasty, even though people did not commit criminal acts, they will still be severely punished just because of some relationships with the offenders. The punishments were incredibly merciless, for death penalty, the body would be divided into a number of pieces based on the crime. While Augustus created a peaceful life for the citizens and was being people-oriented. With a population of nearly one million people, Rome had no city services. Some of the worst problems were hunger and poverty, so Augustus set up a department particularly to supply food to the citizens in order to improve their life. If he could help it, he did not leave or enter any city or town except at night, to avoid disturbing anyone by the obligations of ceremony. Also, Emperor Qin was also paranoid and did not listen to other people’s advice. When the scholars criticized the government, he buried them alive and sent them to the great wall because he thought that they were going to rebel and turned against him. On the other hand, Augustus was willing to hear different voices that could improve the empire. His morning receptions were open to all, including commoners, who wanted to meet with him and talked about their own opinions. Another reason, Emperor Qin’s strict rule and the reforms he enacted had caused anger and hatred among Qin’s subjects. Nobles were angry because he had destroyed the aristocracy; scholars detested him for the burning of books; and peasants hated his forced-labor gangs. All of these directly led the empire to its downfall. Unlike Emperor Qin, Augustus was able to hold power and embark on reforms without making the citizens discontent. He knew that the people wanted a republic, so he showed respect for the Senate and asked for its cooperation in running the empire. But Augustus actually held the real power. He controlled almost all of the military troops. He appointed the most important officials of the government and carefully avoided using the title of king. Instead, he called himself “first citizens” to show that he was one of the people, so the citizens were satisfied with his rule which prevented rebellion. As has been noted, Emperor Qin and Augustus had a vastly different way to lead the country which greatly affected the outcome of their empires.
For the two emperors, they both had significant achievements that created so many impressive miracles in human history.

For Emperor Qin, he ended the war and the situation of separatist rule in the Warring States period, unifying all of China. Before the Qin Dynasty, China had been at war for 200 years. Seven states were battling each other for dominance in land, which was then a patchwork of feudal cities with no central bureaucracy. People lived in a restless life: citizens were facing hunger and poverty; men had to leave their family and fight to death; children could not receive education. Ultimately, Han, Zhao, Wei and all of the other six states were conquered by Emperor Qin. Because of Emperor Qin, for the first time in history, China became a unified centralized empire with multi-ethnic groups, creating a solid foundation for the Chinese nation. For Augustus, in the same manner, he brought the lengthy civil wars to an end, initiating the Pax Romana. In 31BC, Augustus defeated the forces of Antony at the Battle of Actium and led Rome into a new era. His reign marked the beginning of a remarkable period in Rome’s history which lasted over 200 years and was known as Pax Romana. It was said to be a “miracle” as before there had never been such long period of peace and unity in the history. It is remembered as the time during which Rome reached the peak of its political and cultural achievement. Secondly, emperor Qin constructed the Great Wall of China. It was under his

strict laws that this impressive military architecture was born. Not only born but expanded upon by later Dynasties. Even though thousands of lives sacrificed during the construction, it was one of the greatest wonders in the human history. It defended the Central Plains from the invasion of nomadic people in the Northern border, it brought peace and prosperity to the empire for thousands of years. However, the Great Wall not only protected the people but also improve the economy. The continuous war with the nomads had caused the emptiness of national treasury, and increases in price and tax because the government needed to provide food, weapons, and supplies to the military, so that after the construction of the Great Wall, the government no longer had to do that which helped the economic development of the empire. Similarly, Augustus also protects its people by instituting police and fire-fighting forces. With a population of such many people, violence and disorder increased, and Rome had a major crime problem. In addition, fires regularly swept through the city. Thus, Augustus created Rome’s first institutionalized police force and fire-fighting force, Vigiles Urbani and Cohortes Urbanae. They were responsible for maintaining order in the streets, protecting against fires, and riot control. Furthermore, Emperor Qin standardized the money and characters. The Ban Liang was the first unified currency of the Chinese empire that introduced by Emperor Qin during the Warring States period. This strengthened economic link across the country and made trading much easier. Emperor Qin’s unification of Chinese characters was also a milestone in the history, the standard he created 2,000 years ago is still what we are using today. It had a far-reaching influence on the future economic and cultural development, promoting social relations among different ethnic group up to the time of today. Just as Emperor Qin, Augustus laid the foundation of Roman cultural development. Because of the lengthy civil war, Rome had led to moral declension; temples were broken and people had lost their faith in gods. Augustus was firmly convinced that there was an urgent need to reawaken the importance of religion among his subjects. Therefore he repaired numerous temples and started to build more across the empire. He constructed the Temple of Mars Ultor, Temple of Apolo, Forum of Julius and Basilica and so on. He brought back an emphasis on religion and renewed the belief of people in traditional gods to revive the spirit of Rome, promoting the cultural development among the empire. Whether Emperor Qin or Augustus, they all put painstaking effort into shaping a better future of their country and had done one marvel after another; however, their contribution did not stop only at the points listed above, but continued to astonish the rest of the world.