The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty

1261 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Analytical essay on compare and contrast of imperial roman empire to the han dynasty

THE ROMAN EMPIRE AND THE HAN DYNASTY

The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty

Imagine being the head of government in one or two of the most famously remembered governments in the world’s history! The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty are two of the most famous governments in history. The Roman Empire and Han Dynasty were governed in very different ways, however both contributed greatly to Western civilization. The Roman Empire was in power between 1,000 and 1,200 years. The Han Dynasty was in power approximately 400 years, with a little break in the middle. The Han Dynasty was the longest reigning Dynasty in China. When looking at these two great powers it might be apparent that the Han Dynasty would have lasted longer because of the way it was run in contrast to the Roman Empire. How did these governments, who ruled so differently, reign to make them so powerful for a period of time, but yet collapse so sharply?

The Roman Empire and Han Dynasty were ruled with extremely dissimilar philosophies. The Roman Empire led with mixed sophistication and brutality. It suddenly lurched from a civilization, strength and power to terror, tyranny and greed. Powers given to the emperors were abused. However, rulers of the earlier Han Dynasty understood people’s needs for peace and production. This led to their prosperity. The term “yin and yang” come from the philosophy come from their period in China where unity is the theme of the most important fundamental attribute of political philosophy.

The Roman Empire thrived on power; conversely the Han Dynasty did not thrive on power. They were very wealthy and powerful, the most powerful government in the

Mediterranean state. Yet, they wanted to conquer additional land. ...

... middle of paper ...

...w.ancient.eu.com/Han_Dynasty/

(accessed March 24, 2014).

Ancient History Encyclopedia, “Roman Empire”, http://www.ancient.eu.com/Roman_Empire/

(accessed March 24, 2014).

“Eastern Han Dynasty”,

http://www1.chinaculture.org/gb/en_aboutchina/2003- 09/24/content_22734.htm

(accessed March 24, 2014).

Guojuan, Li. "The Confucianism and the Establishing of Ideology of Qin and Han Dynasty/LE

CONFUCIANISME ET L'ÉTABLISSEMENT D'IDEOLOGIE DE QIN ET DYNASTIE

HAN." Cross - Cultural Communication 7, no. 1 (2011): 129-31,

http://search.proquest.com/docview/864755529?accountid=12085 (assessed April 5,

2014.)

“The Roman Empire.” History Learning Site,

http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/roman_empire.htm (accessed March 24, 2014).

Show More
Related

  • Compare And Contrast The Han And Roman Empires

    563 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Han Dynasty and Roman Empire existed around the same time period and both lasted around 400 years. They each had large populations (around 50 million), conquered enemies they felt as a threat, wanted to spread their boundaries and had strong militaries. The Han Dynasty, located in China, was built on other dynasties such as the Qin and Zhou. The Great Wall of China was built during

    Read More

  • Similarities Between Rome And Han Dynasty

    872 Words  | 2 Pages

    Burbank and Cooper in their book Empires in World History portray the evolution of power and the development of different states. They elaborate on how powerful cities and states imposed their rules and waged conquest on surrounding territories. Political dynasties developed strongly among states inspired by religious, politic and economic trends. The Han dynasty of China and the Imperial Rome were some of the powerful states that developed during the third century. The two states adopted different strategies and ideas in developing of their emperor. The Roman, for instance, developed a more advanced for of governance as opposed to the Han. Their system of governance emerged as an expensive identity around the Mediterranean. These two empires controlled and conquered their territory in unique and different ways that made them strong and remarkable during their heyday.

    Read More

  • Compare And Contrast The Han Dynasty And The Gupta Empire

    1045 Words  | 3 Pages

    Throughout history, and in many nations and empires throughout time, governments are affected by religions of different kinds. Religion has been an integral component of humanity, as a way to search answers to existential questions that they might have as well as possibly giving a reason as to why the things they saw happen occur, mostly in older religions. Religion is used by people in power to govern the citizens of their nations on a basis of that religion, as a way to set the foundations of the rules and regulations that must be followed. The Han Dynasty and the Gupta Empire during the classical ages of China and India, respectively, are examples of how their emperors used religion to exert control and shape their nation. The methods in

    Read More

  • Essay On The Han Dynasty And The Roman Empire

    1168 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were both powerful empires during their era. However, the ways they obtained their power varied greatly because they used different methods that involved their political structures, which revolved around their centralized governments. The Han dynasty and the Roman Empire acquired very unique techniques that allowed them to control social and political. For example, the Han dynasty adopted a religion known as Confucianism, which monitored everything in the lives of the Chinese. Contrary, the Roman Empire established a monarchy but allowed its residents more freedom as compared to the Han. Nevertheless, the two empires were similar in political structures in that the power was depended on the wealthy that were in authority, the peasants struggled with their lives because of concerning issues such as food supply. The empires were able to create and preserve a peaceful and sustainable lives for a long time, unlike the past empires. Social distribution were under the control of the wealthiest and they could effortlessly impact community viewpoints and interactions among the residents. These two empires existed during the Classical Period had comparable and various social, political, religions, as well as economical values and practices. However, they both possessed differences and similarities in their economic and social perspectives even though the two empires were established around the same era.

    Read More

  • Roman and Chinese Empires

    839 Words  | 2 Pages

    Now you are probably wondering with all these similar factors that lead to the demise of the empires, how did China recover successfully? The Chinese empire unlike the Roman empire, held on to their cultural identity and tried not to accept diversity in cultures. This is also called cultural homogeneity. Cultural homogeneity create a sense of togetherness. This creates less organization and religious drama. China also had more advanced technological breakthroughs in the fields of agriculture and metallurgy. This is needed to progress and recover so you have ways of keeping up with the economy. The Chinese empire also had one common religion that mostly held up. Confucianism. Having mostly the same religion unifies most people, which is also needed for a recovery. With these main factors, the Chinese empire recovered successfully.

    Read More

  • The Periods of Success and Decline in the Dynastic Cycle

    1108 Words  | 3 Pages

    After the fall of the Qin Dynasty, the Han dynasty drew from the teachings of Confucius to create the Han Synthesis. This formed the traditional belief in China that history repeats itself and directly contributed to the Dynastic Cycle. This is demonstrated by the use of Confucius teachings, the Dynastic Cycle and the Han Synthesis when addressing the Good Life, Good Society and Good State respectively. Each of these philosophies highlight that Chinese history repeats itself by casting light on this theme of repetition through the three different areas. This makes the state accountable for its actions to its people. Confucius was a Chinese philosopher whose ideas greatly affect China in every aspect of its culture. In The Analects, he preached how to be a good man through living a life of filial piety, being a gentleman, and the way a ruler should govern his empire. The Han Synthesis used many of Confucius’ ideas to be the guiding force in China’s political ideology which contributed to the Dynastic Cycle of an empire, which stated that empires go through periods of success and decline. All of these highlight the cyclical nature of history in China, and its importance in the development of the state.

    Read More

  • Differences Between The Han Dynasty And Roman Empire

    1377 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han Dynasty was established in 221 BCE by the rebel leader of the peasants, Liu Bang. Religion not only played a role in the Han dynasty’s rise, but also in their fall through conversion. On the other side of the spectrum, the Roman Empire between 33 and 300, were also undergoing change through religious beliefs. Similarly, both the Han dynasty and the Roman Empire were built by a spread of religious beliefs. In my opinion, religion is the most significant difference between the Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty China based on its effects on the political rule and nature of political authority during both eras. Religion is the most significant difference because societal practices and power structure of the two eras stem from the different beliefs. The Han Dynasty is built up from the spread of Confucianism. The Roman Empire is built up from the spread of Christianity. The two religion’s

    Read More

  • The Roman Empire

    1687 Words  | 4 Pages

    The Roman Empire In 27 BC, Augustus became the first emperor of Rome, thus creating a strong leader figure, which could shape and mold the Republic system into what was best for the empire or themselves. During the reign of the emperors, the political policies for Rome would vary according to, which emperor was in power. Not only were politics shaky, but there never was a clear-cut method of succession for the man who controlled those politics. Rome had created the position of emperor in hopes that men like Augustus would continue to lead her into prosperity, however the office of emperor struggled in attempting to find great men to lead Rome. The office never truly evolved into something greater than when it had been created, but rather the office varied according to the personality of the man in the position.

    Read More

  • Han Dynasty Technological Advancements

    1403 Words  | 3 Pages

    During the age of classical civilizations, both the Han dynasty and the Roman civilizations made remarkable advancements in the world of technology. The Han dynasty lasted for over four centuries with very few interruptions,, and was deemed as China’s golden age. There were several significant technological uses during the Han dynasty, including pulleys and wheelbarrows, water-powered trip-hammers, and Cai Lun’s innovation of paper. Rome was a republic for roughly 450 years, and it then became an empire under the rise of Julius Caesar. The empire was thought to be in it’s golden age under the rule of Augustus, but had a dramatic decline in the fifth century A.D. Rome had many technological innovations inclusive of: concrete, newspapers, roads

    Read More

  • The Han Dynasty

    1393 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Han Dynasty, the amazing Chinese era to have said to unified China for over 400 years old. This era in China’s history began in 206 B.C when a rebel armies rose up against the Qin army. One rebellion, led by Chen Sheng and Wu Kuang was later joined by Xiang Liang, Xiang Yu, Ying Bu, and Peng Yue joined forces with Liu Bang. The people of the Qin Dynasty were unhappy under the rule of Qin Shihuang who was ran his empire with an iron fist. His rule was absolute and disagreeing was punishable by death, though Emperor Qin was the one who to end the Warring States as well as complete the conquering of China in 221 B.C, thus expanding the Chinese state. After the takeover, Liu Bang took the name as Emperor of China and changed his given name to Emperor Gaozu and the Qin laws were abolished.

    Read More

  • The Strengths And Weaknesses Of The Roman Empire

    1322 Words  | 3 Pages

    There were several strengths of the Roman Empire which enabled it to survive for more than four hundred years. These strengths included a strong foundation, having been built off of the Roman Republic; the standardization across the empire of many aspects of life, such as language, law, and especially the extension of citizenship, which made the empire more cohesive and easier to rule; and strong leaders, who were able to utilize the manipulation of the upper class and Senate, and the management of the military.

    Read More

  • The Collapse Of The Roman And The Gupta Empire

    786 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the Gupta Dynasty, weak leadership added to its economic decline, rebellions, and invasions, and ultimately led to its demise. Because the Gupta Dynasty didn’t rely on a centralized government, it was easy for outside forces to come in and overthrow them. The Roman Empire made the opposite mistake. Instead of their leaders being too weak, they were too power-hungry and focused on conquest. This convinced the Roman emperors to spread their empire too far out, making it hard to rule or communicate. This slowly divided the people into sections so that when there was a rebellion or attack, Rome shattered into pieces, and couldn’t be reunified. This is what happened to the Han dynasty as well; they couldn’t go back to being under one government leader, so they dispersed into separate entities instead. This specifically was the reason for the fall of Eastern Rome, and it was later the cause of Western Rome’s fall as

    Read More

  • Comparing the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire

    2784 Words  | 6 Pages

    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 emperor. Both empires shared similar agendas to exploit their vast territories and resources, which helped them expand their political dominance; however, despite having similar political goals and foundations, their government system, cultural ideologies and imperial expansionist natures diverged.

    Read More

  • Comparing Han China and Ancient Rome

    660 Words  | 2 Pages

    When comparing different societies in ancient history you may not think that Han China and Ancient Rome had a lot in common. These two great societies had many similarities and differences, especially in their social structures. These similarities and differences are all due to Han China’s and Ancient Rome’s governments, family structures and religions. Both of these wonderful empires lasted for approximately 400 years and had lasting effects on the lands they conquered.

    Read More

  • The Ming Dynasty

    1275 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Ming Dynasty had created an empire. They had the government, the military, and the economic system to prove it. At different points in time, The Chinese Empire was the greatest in the world, for trade, military, and other key factors in a society.

    Read More

More about The Roman Empire and the Han Dynasty

Open Document