Compare And Contrast Roman And Abbasid Empires
The Roman and Abbasid Empires were similar yet different in many aspects. Religion helped achieve loyal subjects within the empires and provided citizens with a background of beliefs and goals to follow throughout their lives. With a strong foundation of beliefs, a great empire is formed and sustained. The Roman Empire practiced Christianity. Christianity was based on the teachings of Jesus who was born in Judea, a Roman province. He taught that there was only one God and that people should love God and other people including their enemies. Islam was the primary religious belief of the Abbasid Empire. Muhammad spread Islam across the Arabian Peninsula in 630 AD. They followed the teachings of the Qur'an. Similar to Christianity, Islam
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The Roman Empire began when Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, became Rome's powerful ruler. He was titled, Augustus. He developed policies that helped Rome continue to expand and gain power even after his death. Late in the second century, Rome stopped expanding and adding new lands. Without new conquests the empire had no new sources of wealth. In time, the government faced serious economic problems It lacked the money to pay for the army and other expenses of running a large empire. As a result they had to raise taxes and made life harder for many citizens. Eventually the Roman Empire faced military and political problems. Roman soldiers became less willing to follow orders and less loyal to the government. Average citizens became less loyal and less involved in public life whereas in earlier times Roman citizens were active in government and public affairs. In time, Roman leaders only became more interested in getting rich than in public service. Many citizens lost their pride and trust in government which eventually weakened the empire. Similar to the Roman Empire, the Abbasid Empire was strengthened by force. They built a huge standing army. Conquered lands, traded more, and became wealthy. Abbasid leaders put army units at military posts throughout the empire to keep order. Just as the Roman leaders, the Abbasid rulers were fond of easy living. Eventually they ignored government duties and failed to protect merchants from being attacked from robbers. This hurt trade, which was a major source of wealth for the empire. When trade declined, the Abbasid caliphs raised taxes. This made citizens angry at the rulers and they no longer had faith in their government. This made the empire vulnerable to attack by foreigners. As a result of government failure to please their followers, the Empires eventually
The Roman Empire began when Octavian, Caesar's adopted son, became Rome's powerful ruler. He was titled, Augustus. He developed policies that helped Rome continue to expand and gain power even after his death. Late in the second century, Rome stopped expanding and adding new lands. Without new conquests the empire had no new sources of wealth. In time, the government faced serious economic problems It lacked the money to pay for the army and other expenses of running a large empire. As a result they had to raise taxes and made life harder for many citizens. Eventually the Roman Empire faced military and political problems. Roman soldiers became less willing to follow orders and less loyal to the government. Average citizens became less loyal and less involved in public life whereas in earlier times Roman citizens were active in government and public affairs. In time, Roman leaders only became more interested in getting rich than in public service. Many citizens lost their pride and trust in government which eventually weakened the empire. Similar to the Roman Empire, the Abbasid Empire was strengthened by force. They built a huge standing army. Conquered lands, traded more, and became wealthy. Abbasid leaders put army units at military posts throughout the empire to keep order. Just as the Roman leaders, the Abbasid rulers were fond of easy living. Eventually they ignored government duties and failed to protect merchants from being attacked from robbers. This hurt trade, which was a major source of wealth for the empire. When trade declined, the Abbasid caliphs raised taxes. This made citizens angry at the rulers and they no longer had faith in their government. This made the empire vulnerable to attack by foreigners. As a result of government failure to please their followers, the Empires eventually