What Are The Similarities Between Ancient China And Rome's Culture

The differences and similarities between Ancient China and Rome’s culture are pronounced and merit analysis. Both cultures were very innovative technology for their time. Some of their practices were also very diverse. In the end, both cultures were very similar.

Rome went through major changes in its culture because of the start of the growing spread of Christianity. Early on Christianity was not the chief religion and around 64 AD Christians were actually punished and targeted by the ruler Nero. There was an order to kill any Christian, most were killed in very brutal ways. The Christians were killed because the ruler was in fear that the Roman Gods would be upset that they (all of the people) were not worshipping them (the gods) and they would punish the

whole empire for it. The state of the ideas of Christianity began with the ruler Constantine.

The conversion to Christianity, he said was a vision or a dream in which Christ directed him to fight under Christian standards. He created the capital, Constantinople for the new Christian empire. Christianity increased gradually over the next two centuries. Some hundred years after the conversion, Christianity seemed to be the established religion of Rome. China also faced some changes in its religion. The new government form, Legalism rejected Confucianism, the previous religion adopted. Shi Huangdi, the ruler, did not allow Confucianism, he ordered all of the religious books and artifacts relating to Confucianism to be burned or destroyed. Although he was harsh and changed a lot during that time to unite China, he was accomplished, The Great Wall Of China was built during his rule. After the last emperor of the Qin dynasty’s death, there were a lot of resentment and anger, the Qin dynasty quickly crumbled. Liu Bang, the next ruler, founded the Han Dynasty. The greatest Dynasty in Chinese history. Confucianism was restored and now allowed by the legalist government still intact. Over the next series of rulers, Confucianism became the prime

religion for the Chinese during the Han Dynasty. Buddhism reached China in the first century AD using the Silk Road, the government was very unstable at this time. By 200 AD, Buddhism had spread across much of China and was more popular than Confucianism or Daoism.
Living in Rome could be a dream, if you had the money, you could live like a king. The rich would relax and enjoy their extravagant lifestyle and rich furnishings. They would have luxurious parties with fancy meals and had many slaves to tend to their every need. Living as a poor Roman was not as fun, they could only dream of such a life. They lived in bustled houses that were very unstable and they had poor living conditions. They were poor in wealth, but strong in numbers. Although different, they had the same values, the man was the head of the household. His wife looked after the household, but he controlled it. They both had one thing in common, Romans of all classes made a point of visiting the baths after work each day. The men wore a tunic and a toga. The upper class had a toga made of wool or linen and the poor would use whatever material they could find. There were specific rules about toga color and style, reserved for Roman senators and other powerful figures. Roman woman also wore a tunic that was normally fashioned with a belt. After marriage, they wore a looser fitting stola. Everything was very different in Ancient China. Most of the people were peasants, only a handful had money, but the difference in wealth was very large. Since most people were peasants, they usually did not have anything else to do for work other than farming. Clothing was one way of telling a person’s status, the poor normally wore prickly hemp, it was good for working in the fields. The rich or high class wore expensive silk that was colorful and luxurious. One standing rule was only the emperor could wear yellow.
Both Romans and the Ancient Chinese were very technically advanced and had many findings and advancements. Rome had a city heating system to keep homes and the public baths warm. The system was called a hypocaust and is similar to a modern day vent system. The Romans were the first people to build arches into big buildings and their aqueducts. Their aqueducts are quite famous and carried water to their towns. They built many roads and bridges during their time. They also invented some machines such as the reaping machine, cranes and the catapult. The Romans kept their cities clean, they had a drain system for dirty water and sewage, and the drains were always flushed with water from the bath houses to keep the smell away. They had plumbers and always had their laundry done so they could have fresh clothes. The Ancient Chinese were also very advanced! They were melting and casting iron before any other civilization. They invented many things such as the compass, paper, gunpowder, deep drilling, using natural gas, a mechanical clock mechanism, row crop farming, porcelain, silk, rudders for ships, suspension bridges and wheelbarrows! These are just some of the many developments they made. They also made major early developments in mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and literature.
Although ancient China and Rome were very different in a lot of ways, there were some similarities. China’s government at some times was very focused on controlling the religion of its country, just how Rome was at different points in their history. While the two civilizations had their variances, they were very similar.