Similarities Between Han China And Imperial Rome

Han Dynasty and Roman Empire have many cultural aspects including religious, geographical, and political similarities that can be compared, though many differences are also widespread during this era. Though Roman and Han political structures, both emphasized bureaucracies, they came to them quite differently. Through many amounts of expansion, both societies spread culture and earned money, though expansion was eventually their downfall. Their religions differed greatly, with Rome, emphasizing polytheism and Han China focusing on Confucianism. The differences and similarities between these two civilizations are to be discussed in this essay. One might ask, Which civilization yielded the best

Though they were both able to trade due to their expansions and coasts, Rome did much more trade than Han China. Also, due to this vastness, both societies’ cultures were spread all over the world (which led to other civilizations forming) and their economies were boosted (which led to better conditions for the people).

Moreover, while the production and transportation of goods was influential to the trading industry, the Romans were able to expand their empire by conquering distant lands.

Most societies that developed in ancient civilizations were centered around some form of imperial administration and Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E.-476 C.E.) and Han China (206 B.C.E.-220 C.E.) were no different in this sense. Both civilizations had a network of cities and roads, with similar technologies that catalyzed cultural amalgamation and upgraded the standard of living, along with comparable organizational structures. Additionally, both civilizations had problems managing their borders and used similar tactics for defense. However, the Chinese Emperor was interpreted as a God while the Roman Emperor was a lugal, or big man, who had to fight not only to gain power, but to push through his initiatives. The similarities and differences

Empires on their outside may seem very different and unique. However, when you get down to their fundamentals, you begin to truly realize how similar they are. Just as the imposing pine tree and humble tomato plant may seem vastly different, their start from a lowly seed and craving for water and sunlight to survive unifies them. Such is also true with the Han and Roman empires. While key differences may be present, their social structures, influencing religions, and causes of collapse unify them.

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire vary in their political development and achievements. The Roman’s developed two different codes of law, one that applied to citizens and another that applied to non-citizens. Rome’s trade routes were built using stone, which made it very easy for merchants to travel from one city to another over a vast amount of land. China, however, used a single code of law for all their citizens and conquered peoples, and used a long and treacherous trail in their trade; that lead to the Middle East. Even though these two civilizations held many differences, they also shared rulers who personally oversaw their governments to prevent numerous dilemmas and used expansive trade routes to build up their economies and

To begin with, both Imperial Rome and Han China were ruled under a bureaucracy. In Rome the emperor was the ultimate authority. The

Both Rome and Han China equivalently constructed similar roads, bridges, and water development systems all to strengthen their economy. Verifications of this can be seen when Rome fully realized the potential of arches and bridges in their road systems that spanned more than 400,000 km of roads that were used for trade. Correspondingly, they also built aqueducts as a form of water engineering to constantly bring in a flow of water to the cities and towns. Similarly, Han China built massive fortified roadways for trade and walls for fortification comparable to the Great Wall of China as a means of defense. Also in comparison to Roman aqueducts, Han China built water canals as means to direct water as they pleased. These similarities defined their engineering skills as these inventions and constructions were used to help strengthen their economies. Rome built and constructed roads to aid their trade systems and make easier routes of travel. Furthermore, they used aqueducts to get water into the city saving money and the need for human labor. Similarly, Han China used their fortified roads to trade much easier and as a means of safer travel. This went hand in hand with China’s water canals that also aided their economy by directing water where needed saving much money and limiting the need for human labor as well.

After the rise and fall of the earliest civilizations, some of the very first ancient empires started to emerge over many centuries before the birth of Christ. Although there are many things that characterize these empires uniquely from each other, there are still resemblances between them. Despite the fact that both Persia and China were great empires in two different regions, their governing methods coincide in the systems of organization and basic infrastructures; but they differed greatly in the beliefs of both the government and people.

Because Augustus encouraged trade, many roads and highways were built for convenient traveling. Trading made easier increased trade, which boosted Roman economy even more.

Rome and Han were similar in terms of military techniques and methods. The similarity was the way the two kingdoms had imperial administrations. Both Rome and Han established their territories through defending and fighting for their land. This can be proved from the way the Romans used various legions that had heavy infantry in the warfare. The Han dynasty had the same legions which they used in their warfare. Each legion had thousands of soldiers and they were sent to the battlefield in order to fight.

Numerous land-based empires and regional states had existed before 3rd century BC. However, none of these empires could be compared to the Han Dynasty in China and the Imperial Rome. The cultural identity built during the Han Dynasty such as the family-organized ancestor worship and culture centered on the Classic Confucian teachings had been influential for the development of China for several centuries . On the other hand, the Roman Empire had shown their authority over the Mediterranean Region and introduced the concept of “citizen” which influenced the development of states even after its fall . In general, both of these empires became powerful and influential forces during their times.

Empires that existed during the third century B.C.E. were the Roman and Han Empires. These two empires were similar, as their authorities invoked supernatural sanctions to support their rule and invested heavily in public works such as roads, bridges, and protective walls. The falls of the Roman and Han Empires were more similar than different. Before these empires existed, Rome was a center of a big imperial state which eventually became a republic. Meanwhile, China was under the rule of the Qin Dynasty.

During 600 BCE to 600 CE, an immense amount of empires emerged around the world. In order for these empires to prosper and control their conquered masses, the use of technology played a key role, whether militarily or merely public works. However, the rise of different philosophies/beliefs and the emergence of empire's social structure played a key role in shaping the attitudes of some empires towards technology. This technology led to benefitting economies since it encouraged and helped trade. It also had many other uses as well. The Persian Empire created the "royal road" enhancing trade, but provided unity to the empire. Two other such empires that had views on technology were Han China and the Roman empire.

The empires of this time period had some innovative ideas and discoveries that permanently changed their nations and in some cases, the world. Both Rome and China had two unique and important cultural characteristics that completely changed their nations. For the Romans, their unique cultural characteristics were new ideas. The first of these new ideas, their unique Judicial System is the basis for many current judicial systems around the world, the other new idea, Christianity is now one of the worlds most practiced Religions. Whereas the unique cultural characteristics of China, namely the creation of paper and the formation of the “silk road” were more practical cultural characteristics, but no less impactful for both their