Han China And Rome Comparison Essay

Rome and Han China at their peaks were the largest and most successful empires the world had yet seen. While Rome centered around the Mediterranean Sea in Europe- from the Roman city-state in central Italy- Han China was based in most of present day China, with the Han homeland located east in the empire. Although in no close contact of each other- the Roman Empire and Han China being separated by thousands of miles- both of these great civilizations grew to great heights and shared many characteristics. While the declines of the Roman Empire and Han China were very similar, both experiencing a collapsing economy, inefficient government, and invasions by other peoples, the differences in their downfalls lie in the core ideals of the empires and how each issue was handled. …show more content…
Rome, during its later years, formed control through emperors, military generals who took control of the state through military force. Their soldiers became more and more loyal to them instead of the state, encouraged by promises of land in the empire. This led to Rome’s continuous land expansion, as they needed more and more areas to give to their loyal fighters. However, forces soon spread too thinly across Rome’s great many borders, and the empire could not protect itself as much as it needed to, for maintaining so many borders was expensive. Han China ruled through a well organized bureaucracy, with the leading family being the Hans. The government, however, becoming corrupt and inefficient, coupled with natural disasters, led to peasant farmers revolting. The military soon had to use farmers to fight these angry farmers, which, as you might expect, led to only larger amounts of angry, hungry, revolting peasant farmers. The empire became decentralized and on the verge of collapse, many subjects unimpressed by the government’s