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.
The Roman Empire had a social system that was based on autonomy, heredity, citizenship and property as well as distinguishing men and women by their social status. The women had the lowest position in society which were depended on the status of their husbands and fathers. They lacked independence and ...
... middle of paper ...
...nt. An individual guilty of a misdemeanor could be put in jail, forced labor, pay fines or even death by beheading. For some reason if a case could not be resolved, higher officials and even the emperor were involved.
The world’s history has numerous civilizations ranges from weak to strong and by level of influential. These civilizations contributed things that have significantly influenced the world as it is known today. Examples of such civilizations include the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire, which made big changes to the social-economic landscape of the globe. Despite both civilizations having great influences, there are various differences and similarities in the social and economic scenarios of the two civilizations. Therefore it is necessary to differentiate these scenarios in order to appreciate the extent of influence facilitated by these civilizations.
In a period of four centuries the Han, Roman, and Gupta empires fell. First in China, then in the Mediterranean, and lastly in India. The civilizations deteriorated from foreign invasion, internal conflicts, and internal weakness that made it to where invaders could invade and cause the decline of these major civilizations.
All of the empires in chapter four certainly left their legacy. But what was their legacy about? As I see it, it was more about their destructive features than their ‘greatness’. Every empire had a rise and fall, the fall due to war or conflict. Rome and the Han Dynasty were the major two ‘empires’ with conflict. Next, Persia and the Greek empire’s conflicts.
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.
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.
Han China and Ancient shared bureaucratic governments. This means that they had a government ruled by unelected officials, giving the people little to no say in government. In Rome the ruler was once a king but then their government transitioned to an oligarchy, which would put the rich people in the highest place in society. On the other hand in Han China, which was an imperial dynasty, and emperors were decided by the Mandate of Heaven. The Mandate gave the common man a chance to become a major ruler during the Han period. The Han government was mainly influenced by confucian government while Romes was based on Roman law and the classics. The Han government spread Confucianism since that was the basis for their government. Rome also relied on local rulers to make sure that their many lands were following rules and not plotting against them. Both the Han and Rome shared a bureaucratic government which affected their social structures in different ways.
Roman men censured the fact that rich women were more concerned with their own figures and luxuries than with their families. Unlike the good, old-time matrons, according to the historian Tacitus around 100 CE, these modern women did not spend time with their childre...
Most classical society’s political and social organization revolved around the idea of patriarchy, a male dominated social system. This system exacerbated the inherit difference between men and woman and assigned gender roles based on these observations. Men were generally regarded as superior to woman therefore given greater religious and political roles as well as more legal rights. As the natural inverse, women were subordinated and seen as week; their main roles reproductive and domestic. Information about patriarchy in the classical era, though abundant, was, for the most part, written by men, therefore history does not give us an accurate depiction of women’s viewpoints. Four societies of the classical era, India, China, Greece, and Rome, adopted a patriarchal system, however, due to many factors, each developed identifiable characteristics.
Lucretia was the symbol of chastity, faithfulness, and feminism. The courage of Lucretia was greatly recognized, being that her story is what rallied the Roman’s against their Etruscan kings . Through her story it becomes evident that while women may have been the inferior gender in Rome, they still had the opportunity to be indirectly involved in political and social aspects of the Roman Republic. Further on in Roman times, there becomes more and more instances in which women take on much more responsibility than just the typical domestic obligations of the average
Women in antiquity did not have an easy lot in life. They had few, if any, rights. Surviving early records of the civilizations of antiquity from ancient Greece, Egypt, China, and Rome suggest the diversity of women’s roles differed little from region to region. There were a few exceptions, mostly concerning women of nobility and the city-state of Sparta. Excluding the rare instances mentioned most antique women were generally limited on education, mobility, and almost all possibilities interfering with domestic or childbearing responsibilities. The limited social roles of women in antiquity suggest the perceived c...
Asia’s history had conflicts that led to the rise and fall of different dynasties. The collapse of Han dynasty affected the political and economic system...
In the year 195 CE, Roman women took to the streets in protest of an outdated law that limited what they could wear and how they could travel. They crowded the Capitol and blocked many of Rome’s streets. Thousands of women left their homes to make known their distaste for the Oppian Laws and ask their government to repeal the restrictive legislation. After being scolded for their unladylike behavior, they besieged the homes of the tribunes in order to make known their commitment to getting rid of the unjust laws. These women participated in one of the first recorded women’s rights protests in history and are evidence that Roman women played a far more important role in society than simply
November 1987;40(6):18. Epub 2007 Nov 18. Available from: Academic Search Complete, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 22, 2011. The Roman Empire in the 1st Century, http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/women.html>, Accessed December 23, 2011.
Families were the basis of Roman society while the dominant males-paterfamilias, “held absolute authority over his children” (Spielvogel 129) and others in his household . Roman citizens were classified with three names to differentiate them from other families, but women were usually only known by one. “Females shall remain in guardianship even when they have attained their majority”, (Spielvogel 119) upper-class women were never granted true freedom, but they started making breakthroughs and found ways around the “guardianship” of the males in their households.
Did you know that the Romans are the most powerful nation in human history, conquering the world and no nation could have stop them from becoming the greatest nation. But the Romans didn’t think of all the practices that were going on at that time. The Romans were totally different before they adapted the some of the practices of the Greek which changed their nation completely, which made them superior than other nations. Firstly, I would like to talk about how the Roman culture were the complete opposite from the Greek before they started to adapt their cultural ways, and how they started to take in practices that are used in everyday life. Secondly, I would like to talk about the cultural difference between the Greek Empire and Roman Empire
The society of ancient Rome can be described as sadistic, macho and priapic, while maintaining multiple traditions originally practiced in Greece, Roman society reflects a different way of functioning. The sexuality was not the primary aspect in the social hierarchy of Rome, but instead focused on the rank and class of the people. When it came to the women of Rome they fell victim to one of two paths, one of lower class and poverty with little rights and possessions or of upper class allowing them independence in most cases, property and a dowry. The society of Rome was one of strength and rigid control which made the fall of Rome so noticeable, when Rome became encased in temptation of the luxuries the availability of trade created for them.