Characteristics Of The Roman Empire

Throughout history, powerful leaders have wondered what it takes to create society as well as empires and states. It is obvious that the rulers had a great impact on the lives of the ruled. However, the people also influenced they means by which they were ruled. In order to be a successful state, they must have support from their people and must rule in a way that allows them to gain that support. A state is considered successful if it is able to expand and maintain order within its territory. The Roman Empire and Han Dynasty needed the support of their people in order to be as successful as they were. They used their people to create a powerful state; they also benefited greatly due to their people. The Roman Empire was an extremely powerful empire because of their strong military. This allowed them to defend themselves against attack as well as

In the Han Dynasty, Confucius ideas had a large influence on the daily life as well as the political procedures of the state. The social hierarchy was largely based on these beliefs. “Confucians envisioned scholar-officials as working hard for the ruler to enhance a moral economy in which profiteering by greedy merchants would be minimal.” It was believed that the people of the empire would not be selfish in attempting to make personal profits much of the time. However, the Han Dynasty was not actually run in this fashion. The early Han Dynasty “perpetuated powerful elites.” The scholar- officials did not have the social ranking needed to achieve a morally correct economic system. The elite class made up of imperials and noble, was the top of the social hierarchy followed by the high-ranking officials and scholars. The social ranking of the Han Dynasty people did not match the ranking that was seen as ideal to the Confucians. The ideas that people had about the social structure varied from the reality of