Han Empire v Roman Empire: Should historians stress the similarities or the differences between Ancient Rome and Han China?

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Han Empire v Roman EmpireShould historians
stress the similarities or the differences
between Ancient Rome and Han China?

• AP World History
• Richard Smart
• Oakland Mills High School

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Warm up

• List the similarities between teenagers and
  children.
• List the differences between teenagers and
  children.
• Which are more important to our understanding of
  young humans in the USA?

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What determines significance?

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Task

• Read through the cards and identify the
  similarities and differences.
• Place the cards on a continuum from most
  significant to least.
• What commonalities do you see in the cards at
  different positions on the spectrum?
• Identify your conclusions.

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Both the Roman Empire and the first Chinese
empire arose from relatively small states that,
because of their discipline and military
toughness, were initially able to subdue small
and quarreling neighbors. Ultimately they unified
widespread territories under strong central
governments.
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In China the imperial tradition and the class
structure and value system that maintained it
were eventually revived, and they survived with
remarkable continuity into the twentieth century
C.E. In Europe, North Africa, and the Middle
East, in contrast, there was no restoration of
the Roman Empire, and the later history of those
lands was marked by great political changes and
cultural diversity.
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Christianity was essentially unwilling to come to
terms with pagan beliefs. The spread of
Christianity through the provinces during the
Late Roman Empire constituted an irreversible
break with the past. On the other hand, Buddhism,
which came to China in the early centuries C.E.
and flourished in the post-Han era, was more
easily reconciled with traditional Chinese values
and beliefs.
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Roman rulers were likely to be chosen by the army
or by the Senate the dynastic principle never
took deep root and the cult of the emperor had
little spiritual content. This stands in sharp
contrast to the clear-cut Chinese belief that the
emperor was the divine Son of Heaven with
privileged access to the beneficent power of the
royal ancestors.
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There was no Roman equivalent of
Confucianismno methodology of political
organization and social conduct that could
survive the dissolution of the Roman state.
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Although the Roman family had its own hierarchy
and traditions of observance of the cult of
ancestors was not as strong as among the Chinese,
and the family was not the organizational model
for Roman society and the Roman state.
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Both Empires had long borders located far from
the administrative center and aggressive
neighbors. Both had to build walls and maintain a
chain of forts and garrisons to protect against
incursions. The cost of frontier de- tense was
staggering and eventually eroded the economic
prosperity of the two empires.
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A network of cities and towns served as the nerve
center of each empire, providing local
administrative bases, further promoting commerce,
and radiating imperial culture out into the
surrounding countryside.
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Both empires found similar solutions to the
problems of administering far-flung territories
and large populations. In both empires a kind of
civil service developed, staffed by educated and
capable members of a prosperous middle class.
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Both empires spread out from an ethnically
homogeneous core to encompass widespread
territories containing diverse ecosystems,
populations, and ways of life. Both brought those
regions a cultural unity that has persisted, at
least in part, to the present day.
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Agriculture was the fundamental economic activity
and source of wealth in both civilizations.
Government revenues were primarily derived from a
percentage of the annual harvest.
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In both cultures the family was headed by an
all-powerful patriarch. Strong loyalties and
obligations bound family members. Values first
learned in the familyobedience, respect for
superiors, piety, and a strong sense of duty and
honorcreated a pervasive social cohesion.