Essay 2

884 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Differences between the Roman Empire and Han China

The Roman and Chinese empire, once established, shared a number of common features as well as differences. For this reason, I picked these two empires for my essay. My focus for this essay is to differentiate between the Roman Empire and the Chinese Empire, also state the similarities that these two empires had or might have had. Main points that I will use to differentiate these two empires are religion, origins of empire, economics, and agriculture. Based on these four points I will be able to get an idea on how these two empires ruled, as well as see what made the Chinese and Roman Empire the wonderful and unique empire that they were.
Roman and Chinese Empire/ Similarities
As stated, one of the many similarities these two prodigious empires had was that they both defined themselves in universal terms. Roman writer Polybius spoke of bringing “almost the entire world” under the control of Rome. The Chinese state was said to encompass “all under heaven.” What this reveals to me is that the Romans were greedy with power. They wanted to have the entire world under their rule. This might have been the reason for the fall of the Roman Empire. In document 3.2, “The Roman Oration,” you read about Aristides and how he delivered to the imperial court and in front of the emperor, Antonius, a formal speech of praise and gratitude, known as a panegyric, celebrating the virtues and achievements of the Roman Empire. In document 3.3, The Writings of Master Han Fei, this talks about governing China.

Origins of Empires/ Politics
The two empires obviously had different origins. Politically, both empires established effective centralized control over vast regions and huge populations, but the Chinese, far more than the Romans, developed and...

... middle of paper ...

...anded, especially to the south, it actively assimilated the non-Chinese or “barbarian” people. Both of these empires, though, helped shape helped shaped the societies in each civilization. Roman geography impacted the civilization by giving defense transportation and water Geographic location impacted Roman civilization because where they were located made it easy for travel and trade. Rome was located on the Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the Tiber River. This made it easy to get all around the European area. They were also located on a place with fertile soil, which made it easy for farming. Also, Rome was surrounded by mountains, which provided them with places to hide, and gave them protection. Geographic barriers such as mountains or seas separated china from other land. As a result, the Chinese had little knowledge of civilizations of Egypt, India, Greece, and Rome.

Show More
Related

  • Similarities Between Han China And Rome

    352 Words  | 1 Pages

    Han China and Rome, despite having some political and cultural differences, fell in ways that were almost directly parallel to one another. Both civilizations experienced declines in everything from culture and population to economy and government, as well as both suffering from attacks by nomadic invaders. However, each civilization's fall had their own unique factors, and the lasting impact of their falls differed greatly.

    Read More

  • Comparison between Classical Athens and Han China

    994 Words  | 2 Pages

    Han China was an empire that expanded over a vast territory and Classical Athens was only a small city-state. Inevitable, there were differences in all aspects of life. The documents provided plenty of information on demographics, government structures, individual roles and duties of a citizen, an view on physical life. Overall, the 64 million differences in population, the democracy that arose in Athens, the importance of a father-son relationship in Han China, and the interests in nature by the Hans were the key facts in the two’s differences.

    Read More

  • Comparing the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire

    2784 Words  | 6 Pages

    The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire were two grand empires that rose out of preexisting territories and provided relative peace over wide areas. The collapse of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE), which was the first great land-based empire in East Asia, came after a period of war, confusion, and tyrannical rule. Due to the political disorder that stemmed from the early dynastic activity, the emergence of the Han Dynasty (206 BCE- 228 CE) sprung to focus on restoring order. On the other hand, the rise of the Roman Empire (44 BCE- 476 CE) originated from consolidating authority over aristocratic landlords and overriding the democratic elements of the earlier Republic. Instead, the Roman Empire redefined the concept of “citizen” as subjects to the Roman emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.

    Read More

  • Comparing Han China and Ancient Rome

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    When comparing different societies in ancient history you may not think that Han China and Ancient Rome had a lot in common. These two great societies had many similarities and differences, especially in their social structures. These similarities and differences are all due to Han China’s and Ancient Rome’s governments, family structures and religions. Both of these wonderful empires lasted for approximately 400 years and had lasting effects on the lands they conquered.

    Read More

  • Differences Between The Han Dynasty And Roman Empire

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han Dynasty was established in 221 BCE by the rebel leader of the peasants, Liu Bang. Religion not only played a role in the Han dynasty’s rise, but also in their fall through conversion. On the other side of the spectrum, the Roman Empire between 33 and 300, were also undergoing change through religious beliefs. Similarly, both the Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were built by a spread of religious beliefs. In my opinion, religion is the most significant difference between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty China based on its effects on the political rule and nature of political authority during both eras. Religion is the most significant difference because societal practices and power structure of the two eras stem from the different beliefs. The Han Dynasty is built up from the spread of Confucianism. The Roman Empire is built up from the spread of Christianity. The two religion’s

    Read More

  • The Project

    1014 Words  | 3 Pages

    Two important, mighty Asian empires in history are the Ottoman Empire and the Ming China. These two empires are in totally different areas of Asia – the Ottomans were in the very west, the Chinese were in the oriental east. Therefore, these two empires, naturally, formed completely different cultures. However, surprisingly, these empires had many parts in common as well. The Ottoman Empire and the Ming Dynasty had both many different and distinct parts, as well as many similarities.

    Read More

  • Han China And Rome Comparison Essay

    600 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Han dynasty in China was similar to the Imperial Rome. They shared common features, such as strong militaries. However they also had their differences. The Han dynasty rule was passed down among families. With the Imperial Rome, rule was based upon votes.

    Read More

  • Han Dynasty Compare Contrast Essay

    1198 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Classical Era, the collapse of the Roman Empire was similar to the collapse of the Han Dynasty in that they both fell due to external and internal conflict. However, they differed in that the Roman Empire became politically and culturally fragmented while the Han Dynasty was reconstituted as a political and cultural whole.

    Read More

  • Essay On The Han Dynasty And The Roman Empire

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were both powerful empires during their era. However, the ways they obtained their power varied greatly because they used different methods that involved their political structures, which revolved around their centralized governments. The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire acquired very unique techniques that allowed them to control social and political. For example, the Han dynasty adopted a religion known as Confucianism, which monitored everything in the lives of the Chinese. Contrary, the Roman Empire established a monarchy but allowed its residents more freedom as compared to the Han. Nevertheless, the two empires were similar in political structures in that the power was depended on the wealthy that were in authority, the peasants struggled with their lives because of concerning issues such as food supply. The empires were able to create and preserve a peaceful and sustainable lives for a long time, unlike the past empires. Social distribution were under the control of the wealthiest and they could effortlessly impact community viewpoints and interactions among the residents. These two empires existed during the Classical Period had comparable and various social, political, religions, as well as economical values and practices. However, they both possessed differences and similarities in their economic and social perspectives even though the two empires were established around the same era.

    Read More

  • Roman and Chinese Empires

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    More than two thousand years ago, two great empires arose. The Chinese and the Roman Empires. Having different locations, there were obvious differences from the start, assembly and the collapse of the empires, but there were also astonishing similarities. Located in modern time Asia and Europe, the Chinese and Roman empires were revolutionary with their ideas and accomplishments in their time from the start to the end of their empires.

    Read More

  • Social Mobility In The Roman Empire

    1070 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Empire of the Great Tang and the Roman Empire existed on a similar large scale and had significant impact on the human history(McKay et al. 184). They were quite similar in many aspects. Both empires were governed by monarchs, bureaucracies and armies(McKay et al. 184). In addition, both empires reached the people directly through taxation and conscription policies, and both invested in infrastructure(McKay et al. 184). However, the political structure was more noticeable, because it was quite different between these two empires and it influenced the social mobility and the civilians’ life significantly. The Tang Empire had examination

    Read More

  • Roman Technology Essay

    647 Words  | 2 Pages

    What these documents truly show, however, is not so much the differing views of the Han and Romans toward technology, but rather their differing views toward commoners, toward the poor, and unfortunate in their kingdom. The Han documents show glimpses of compassion; the Romans show naught but cold indifference, which begs the question, “Was it truly the “Glorious Roman Empire”?

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Chinese And Greek Civilizations

    810 Words  | 2 Pages

    Although it seemed that the Chinese civilization was isolated from the other Eurasian civilizations, they created and built similar achievements and breakthroughs while still staying different. There are many comparisons and contrasts between the Greek and Chinese civilizations. To begin, one striking similarity was how they both subdivided their territories. With the territorial water terraces in China and the polis in Greece resembled one another intensively. Both the territorial princes and the polis magistrates held a larger amount of power over their subjects, but they retained differences in how they were elected (enterprising local landowners claimed the terraces as for the polis magistrates were elected). Surprisingly, the same accomplishments

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast Ming And Chinese Dynasties

    807 Words  | 2 Pages

    During ancient China, many different dynasties emerged, flourished, and failed; all within the span of a few centuries. Each dynasty had their own unique beliefs, their own form of government, and culture. These contrasting elements not only set them apart but also changed the way they functioned. Whether a dynasty expanded or isolated was a major decision each dynasty had to face, and there are interesting examples of both cases. The Qin, for example, chose to expand, while the Ming chose to isolate. Some Chinese dynasties encouraged expansionism while others chose to isolate China because of both differences in financial circumstances and their individual foreign relationships. These choices sometimes distracted and weakened a dynasty and

    Read More

  • The Ming Dynasty

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    The purpose of this paper is to tell the history of the Ming Dynasty’s impact on the Chinese Empire, and to explain why the Chinese Empire was in fact an empire.

    Read More

More about Essay 2

Open Document