Similarities Between Han China And Imperial Rome

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A similarity in the government and imperial administrations of Han China and Imperial Rome includes that they both had problems with defense that resulted in governmental and economic downfall. One difference in this same category involves the army in Rome causing political upset, which did not occur nearly as often in China.
Both empires faced problems with their neighbors and built walls to try and shield their long boarders from these invaders. In Rome they were mainly worried about the Parthians, so they built long walls along unprotected parts of boarder (most parts of the boarder were protected by mountains, deserts, and sea). In China they built the Great Wall of China to block out the Xiongnu, aka barbarians. Both empires also sent …show more content…

The Roman army was made up of professionals, and the percentage of privileged people serving in the army gradually rose. Because of these factors and the fact that Roman soldiers individually served in the army for decades, a fairly large percentage of them tried to come into power (Although most of them failed). In China, the army consisted of draftees, and because each of them only served for two years, they were less tempted to try and force their way up into power. Another difference was caused because of the way the government handled the merchants in China. In China, the government looked down on merchants because society thought they were suspicious and always accused them of driving up their prices. They referred to them as “parasites who lived off the work of others”, and the merchants were often mocked and blamed for Chinas economic problems. For these reasons, the Chinese government often imposed on their business and restricted it. In Rome, the government did not interfere with how the merchants did their business, and therefore Rome had an economic upturn and gained more economic

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