Roman Technology Dbq Analysis

Han vs. Rome Technology Views The majority of the Han views on technology were positive. However, a majority of Romans’ views, usually upper class, were not positive. In both societies, the views of people who had expertise in technology were positive, while those who did not have expertise were negative. Some of the views that the Han and Romans’ had were dependent upon their social class. The Roman upper class tended to have negative views on technology. For instance, in document five, Cicero, an upper class Roman political leader, stated that the technology created by the Romans’ tended to be bad quality because the workers have no skill, just the ability to be able to create something. In document seven, Seneca, an upper class Roman philosopher,

People without expertise usually had negative views, except in the Han dynasty. For instance, in document five, Cicero had no expertise in technology and had a negative view on it. This is most likely because he had never used it because people used it for him. In document seven, Seneca also had no expertise in technology, but however still gave a negative view. In document three however, Huan Tan had no expertise, but still gave a positive view. Although people with no expertise tended to lean more towards negative views, people with expertise lent more towards positive views. For instance, in document one, a Han government official had expertise on technology, leaning him to be more positive about the uses, creations, and affects of technology. In document two, Huan Guan had expertise in technology and because he was an expert, he had a positive view on technology and its works. In document four, it talks about how Tu Shih created an item that was huge in the society at the time. Thus showing he had expertise in technology, which gave the historical writer a positive view. In document eight, Frontinus, Roman general, governor of Britain, and water commissioner for the city of Rome, had expertise on technology and therefor gave a positive view on it. Lastly, in document six, Plutarch, a Greek-born Roman citizen and high official, had a positive view on technology. However, he was neither an expert nor incompetent. The less a person knows about technology, the less positive view they will have because they do not know anything about the