Han and Roman Empire

Differences and similarities between the Han and Roman empire

The Han and roman empires were two of the biggest and most culturally impacting empires in history. These two empires had many similarities in the rode to there success in was of trade and military. The same two empires, however, had many differences as well.

The first look at the empires reveals an important similarity in one of the key parts of any empire, the economy. In both the Han and Roman Empire the main portion of their economy was based of agriculture mainly produced by a peasant population. In both empires the peasants would be sometimes forced other times not into compulsory labor. Also in both empires a important network led to the flourishing of trade. The next major similarity between these two empires is the cause of their downfall. In both empires they had to cover a huge land mass. This meant that the cost of defending there borders got more and more expensive as there were more borders to defend and as there rivals caught up to there tech. this led to the over taxation of the masses which in turn led to un loyalty to the empires from the peasants. In many ways the Han and Roman Empires were very similar.

Even though a lot of the military and economic systems were very similar there were still some things that were very different. To start off the social structure between the two empires were very different. In the Han Empire each individual was part of the big picture, which meant that no one had a say besides for very high officials. This also made it hard to advance economically and improve your position in life. However in the Roman Empire there was more focus on the individual. Because of this it was a lot easier to advance your status in the Roman Empire. Another difference is in the political structure. In the Han Empire the political structure was one leader selected by god or the divine son of heaven, which meant that no one had a say about what he did. In the Roman... [continues]

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