Comparing the Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire Essay

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 â€Å"citizen† as subjects to†¦show more content†¦As a result, the Hans possessed a massive continental landmass. Likewise, the Romans took over the inland sea areas along the Mediterranean. They merged the multitude of ethnic groups and city-states into a l arge single-unit political state. Through the assimilation of military power from the communities they conquered in Italy, Roman army accumulated and grew in control. Similar to the Hans glory over the nomads, the Roman army’s attacks against Carthage in the Three Punic Wars demonstrated the disciplined and honorable qualities of the army and their monopoly of power over the Mediterranean. As a result, both empires developed political integration. Although the foundation of both empires was built upon political integration, their organization of government differed. The Han Dynasty’s centralized power and administration was based on a bureaucratic system while the Roman Empire’s imperial power was based on a one-man sovereign. In order to improve Chinese society, which was under tyrannical rule under the Qin Dynasty, the Han Empire centralized their government with the synthesis between an imperial family and the new scholar-gentry class under a bureaucratic system. By securing power to overthrow the Qin Dynasty, Liu Bang provided lands to those military supporters who helped with the task. From the land grants given, the royal families and supporters were entitledShow MoreRelatedThe Han Dynasty And Roman Empire1059 Words   |  5 PagesThe Han Dynasty ruled China from 206 B.C.E to 220 A.D, and Polybius wrote his account of Rome around 200 B.C.E. Though the Han Dynasty and Roman Empire existed simultaneously, t hey were vastly different because they were separated by thousands of miles and high mountain ranges. It is widely agreed upon that the two empires had very little contact, especially in the years when Polybius wrote his account. 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