The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty Essay

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

Emperor Hadrian concentrated more on how the Empire was run verses making it larger. He also helped start the Pax Romana (Roman Peace). (Mahoney, 2001)

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 Empire and the Han Dynasty were both some of the greatest empires in their time. The fall of the Roman Empire was followed by the fall of the Han Dynasty. Three major things that contributed to these empires falling were the economic troubles these empires were going through at the time, taxation was a huge trouble for some of these empires, trade was also a big contribution, and being economically weak had an impact as well. Political reasons were a major of why these empires fell, both these empires had problems when it came down to their rulers, both these empires also split into two at a point, as well as the gap between the rich and the poor.

The Roman Empire was one of the largest empires the world has ever seen. The power and size they managed to obtain has been a constant subject of interest for historians and all those who are interested in history. Julius Caesar’s ascension to power marked the time from where the Romans steadily expanded their territory and by the time the Roman Republic dissolved and the Roman Empire emerged, the Empire had become so big that the Romans had then to face the problem of maintaining their empire. The Roman Empire maintained its power by

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire both had a great influence not only on its people but the world as a whole. The two had similar and different methods of political control. Both ruled their people under a bureaucracy, they had civil servants to maintain their large empires, and their foundations were made of great and strong rulers. Aside from the similarities they also had several differences. Take China for example, they focused more on Confucianism and they had a Mandate of Heaven. Rome on the other hand used entertainment to distract and control the masses of its population.

As well as the Roman Army and the Roman roads, the Pax Romana was another factor that led to the empire’s great success. Pax Romana, Latin for “Roman Peace”, was the peace established by the Romans in their empire, where the inhabitants benefitted from the law and order that was enforced by the Romans, and no more land was to be conquered. The Pax Romana was one of the most stable periods of the empire. This brought relative civilisation across the empire and kept the peasants happy, which was essential to keeping the empire under control.

Throughout history, there were various empires which developed into great, powerful forces. These empires expanded their lands to new places but, these empires ultimately came to an end. Amongst these great empires, were the Han and the Roman empire. Both were great in power but, due to political, social, and economic causes, they came to an end. Although they do partake in the equal shares of corruption and problems with the military, they also had fair shares of differences, regarding their declines. For example, the Han empire had decentralization and rebellion while Rome had shifted in interests and developed war issues. These differences and similarities are bits of history which help to comprehend why these empires are no longer

The years 97 and 98 CE marked an important turning point in Roman history, as it marked the beginning of the “Period of the Five Good Emperors” which lasted for 83 years. During the years of 97 and 98 CE, many important events occurred. Marcus Cocceius Nerva, simply called Nerva, was made emperor in 96 CE, and ruled until his death in the January of 98 CE. Under his rule, many new laws and systems came into existence. Nerva’s first order of business was the correction of all of the previous emperor’s mistakes. Before Nerva was emperor Domitian, a very harsh and authoritarian ruler who was under the impression that the Senate was trying to undermine his power. Because of this, emperor Domitian had hundreds of “traitors” in the Senate imprisoned. During his reign as emperor in 97 and 98 CE, Nerva released anyone who was on trial for treason and invited back politicians

The Roman Empire existed between 31 B.C.E to 476 C.E. and the Han Dynasty occurred 202 B.C.E. to 220 C.E. They existed at same times but were on opposite ends of Eurasia. They both had regions that were ruled by either kings, viceroys or governors in the name of the emperor. They were both similar in slavery, government, and their downfall. They also had their differences in religion, military, and center of power.

The government and laws of ancient Rome emphatically ruled the people who resided there. However, Caesar’s assassination in 44 B.C. brought out anarchy. The lower classes, which were very much in support of Caesar, became infuriated that a group of aristocrats had murdered him. Antony, who had arrived with the intent of taking control of Rome, and Octavian, later to be referred to as Augustus, formed an uneasy alliance in order to try and reunite Rome. However, the two eventually turned against each other, and after a battle in Actium in 31 B.C., Augustus became the first official Roman Emperor. Augustus reigned over Rome, determined to resolve the social disorder that was present at the time. Leading with such strength, he began a 200-year period of peace, now known as the Pax Romana. His many laws that were enforced represented a concrete response to the chaos that was present in Ancient Rome.

Many Emperors came and went after Augustus. The Roman Empire continued to expand under rulers such as Emperor Trajan. He ruled the Roman Empire from 98 to 117 CE. His policies were popular with the Romans, who called him "optimus" (the best). Under his rule, the Roman Empire was the largest it had ever been. At this time, the Empire covered 2.5 million square miles. It stretched as far north as Britain, as far south as the Nile River, as far west as Hispania, and as far east as the Persian Gulf.

The Roman Empire was a vast and powerful one. Stretching from modern-day Spain to the Middle East, and reaching from Britain to the northern tips of Africa, this empire was certainly one of the largest empires in history. Their strength was also evident in the fact that the Empire lasted over 500 years. Control of such a large area of land and the Mediterranean Sea allowed for the spread of their Roman culture. Although the Roman Empire and Republic no longer exist today, the ideas and designs of ancient Rome live on in our modern-day art, law, engineering, languages, and literature.

Augustus need for cooperation in running the vast empire. The Principate of Rome population embraces men of every kind, in respect both of race. and endowment and both of their tempers and their desires, which are commonly manifold. And the business of the Senate has become so vast that it can be administered only with the greatest difficulty. Augustus had nearly doubled the size of the empire by adding territories in Europe, and Asia Minor and capturing alliance that gave him effective rule to the Senate. Augustus had spent much of his time outside of Rome, combining power, Augustus was only 40 years old when he had all the power from other European counties, which made him control everything, which he wanted to make strict rules in Rome,

The inexperienced Octavius won. In 43 BC, Octavius and Anthony agreed to share the power along with Lepidus. They all were designated by the senate as a Triumvirate with powers for five years. Antony and Octavian undertook a military expedition to the East to defeat Brutus and Cassius who were the ones that assassinated Julius Caesar. In two battles at Philippi, the troops of Brutus and Cassius were defeated and Brutus and Cassius killed themselves. The Triumvirate then decided that they would divide the Empire. Anthony got the East, Lepidus got Africa and Octavian got the West. Italy was under the control of all