E. NappLook back over the

past, with its changing empires that rose and fell, and you

can foresee the future, too.

Marcus Aurelius

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THE ROMAN AND HAN EMPIRES Flourished at roughly the same time (200

BCE-200CE) Occupied a similar area (approximately 1.5

million square miles) Populations of a similar size (50 to 60 million) Giant empires shaping the lives of close to

half of the world’s populations However, only dimly aware of each other Had almost no direct contact

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ROME Began as a small city-state in Italian

peninsula in the eighth century BCE Originally ruled by a king Roman aristocrats overthrew monarchy

around 509 BCE Established a republic in which patricians,

wealthy landowners, dominated Two consuls exercised executive power -Advised by patrician assembly – the Senate

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E. Napp Conflict between patricians and plebeians led

to some political changes -Twelve Tables, Roman written laws,

offered plebeians (common people) some protections

-Established office of tribune – represented plebeians

E. Napp Launched empire-building enterprise -Took more than 500 years -Conquered Italian peninsula (began 490s

BCE) -Between 264 -146 BCE, Punic Wars with

Carthage and victory -Expansion in the eastern Mediterranean

(Greece, Egypt, and Mesopotamia) -Extended territories in Southern and

Western Europe (Spain, France, and Britain) -By 2nd century CE, reached its maximum

extent

E. Napp Wealth of the empire enriched a few -large estates and slaves But many free farmers forced into the cities

and poverty A small group of military leaders (Marius,

Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar) depended on the poor

-brought civil war to Rome during the first century BCE

E. Napp When the civil war ended, power now was

vested in an emperor -Caesar Augustus (reigned 27 BCE – 14 CE) The republic had ended – Rome was an

empire During the first two centuries CE, the empire

provided security and prosperity -Pax Romana

E. Napp However, with new territories came new

vulnerabilities Which led to new conquests Rome’s central location in Mediterranean

helped but its army built the empire Brutal in war -Carthage was completely destroyed But Romans could be generous -Granted citizenship to some of the

conquered

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THE HAN DYNASTY Did not create something new but restored

something old The Xia, Shang, and Zhou dynasties had

existed before But by 500 BCE, unity vanished in the era of

warring states

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E. Napp During the Qin Dynasty, Shihuangdi

developed an effective bureaucracy, equipped his army with iron weapons, and increased unity

Shihuangdi adopted Legalism -A philosophy based on harsh punishments

to ensure obedience -Dissident scholars executed – Books

burned Ruled from 221 – 210 BCE Called himself “first emperor” Laid the foundations for a unified Chinese

state -A state that has endured with periodic

interruptions to the present

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E. Napp Began construction on Great Wall of China -To keep invaders out – keep “barbarians” out Erected a mausoleum as emperor’s final

resting place with some 7,500 life-size ceramic soldiers

Imposed a uniform system of weights, measures, and currency

Standardized the written form of the Chinese language

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E. Napp The Han dynasty that followed (206 BCE –

220 CE) -Retained centralized features of

Shihuangdi’s creation -Moderated the harshness of Qin policies -Consolidated China’s imperial state and

established the political patterns that lasted into the twentieth century

-Established Confucianism as the dominant philosophy

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SIMILARITIES – ROMAN AND HAN Invested heavily in public works -Roads, bridges, aqueducts, canals, walls Invoked supernatural sanctions to support

rule -Romans began viewing deceased emperors

as gods and established a religious cult to bolster authority of living emperors

-Chinese emperors were viewed as the Son of Heaven and governed by the Mandate of Heaven so long as they ruled morally

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E. Napp Both absorbed a foreign religious tradition -Christianity in the Roman Empire and

Buddhism in China -Though Christianity developed slowly and

by fourth century CE obtained state support to help a declining empire with a common religion

-Buddhism from India was introduced by Central Asian traders and received little support from rulers (appealed to people who felt bewildered after the collapse of the Han dynasty)

E. Napp Not until the Sui dynasty emperor Wendi

(581-604 CE) reunified China did the new religion gain state support and only temporarily

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THE COLLAPSE OF EMPIRES The Western part of the Roman Empire

collapsed in 476 CE after a decline of several centuries

-The eastern part began the Byzantine Empire

(preserved Greek and Roman learning) In China, many free peasants turned into

impoverished tenant farmers -Led to a major peasant revolt known as the

Yellow Turban Rebellion in 184 CE

E. Napp Rivalry among elite factions Empires too big, too overextended, too

expensive A growing threat from nomadic or semi-

agricultural peoples occupying the frontier regions of both empires

But collapse and disunity in China was eventually replaced by a unified imperial state

Whereas Western Europe dissolved into a highly decentralized political system

-Europe would be a civilization without an encompassing imperial state

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E. NappStrayer Questions How did Rome grow from a single city to the

center of a huge empire? How and why did the making of the Chinese

Empire differ from that of the Roman Empire? In comparing the Roman and Chinese

empires, which do you find more striking - their similarities or their differences?

How did the collapse of empire play out differently in the Roman world and in China?